Overview
- The Curiosity rover documented the unusual features on Mount Sharp on Friday, September 18, 2026, after dense imaging campaigns in two nearby work areas.
- Close-up MAHLI photos and Mastcam stereomosaics were used to build digital elevation models that confirm the depressions are broad, shallow and unusually flat compared with known martian pits.
- ChemCam laser analyses and APXS X‑ray measurements show adjacent gray, rough layers have a different chemical signature than the surrounding bedrock.
- Mission scientists note the depressions lack obvious remnant nodules or pebbles that explain typical erosion pits and are testing hypotheses that include changes in depositional conditions or unusual weathering processes.
- Curiosity’s persistent mapping of Mount Sharp’s layers continues to refine the mound’s environmental history and the team plans more targeted imaging and compositional work to resolve the depressions’ origin.