Curiosity rover's intriguing geological find (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

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But alongside these show pieces, Curiosity - also known as the Mars Science Laboratory - is already warming up its instruments for a science mission of unprecedented scope on the Red Planet.

Nasa said that the rover was already returning more data from Mars than all of the agency's earlier rovers combined.
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For now it is examining the "scour marks" left by the rocket-powered crane that lowered the rover onto the planet's surface, giving some insight into what lies just below it.
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But what has caught the interest of Nasa engineers already is what is called an "unconformity" spotted in the rover's first images of Mount Sharp.

The term refers to an evidently missing piece in the geological record, where one layer of sediment does not geologically neatly line up with that above it.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19396270

[FirstLight]

1. Im sorry, is that english?

"unconformity"...? gad zooks, I guess I am a language nazi after all, but that sounds awful....isn't it called an ANOMALY..?

[eppur_se_muova]

2. That is geologists' English -- I have not seen the term used otherwise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconformity#Types_of_unconformities

Sort of reminds me of the difference between 'uncompetitive' vs 'noncompetitive' inhibition in enzyme kinetics.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. An 'unconformity' is a buried erosional or non-depositional surface separating two rock masses

or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of the younger, but the term is used to describe any break in the sedimentary geologic record.

The rocks above an unconformity are younger than the rocks beneath (unless the sequence has been overturned). An unconformity represents time during which no sediments were preserved in a region. The local record for that time interval is missing and geologists must use other clues to discover that part of the geologic history of that area. The interval of geologic time not represented is called a hiatus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconformity

[Posteritatis]

5. Welcome to Technical Jargon Place (address: 101 Google First And Then React Avenue) (nt)

[FirstLight]

7. okay, okay!!!

humble pie, here's a slice!

[phm]

4. curiosity gets political

There should be strong pushback from the science community around the "build that" discourse - private industry/ small business doesn't go to Mars in the way NASA/JPL has just demonstrated, performing basic science with no obvious short term payback. Curiosity gets it - see this photo..

[Alduin]

6. That's really awesome.