This MAHLI image (field of view about 20 cm) shows how water has travelled through the Garden City mudstone rock. It has left trails in veins – probably of gypsum or a similar mineral. The purity of the veins suggest that they formed from the redissolution of an evaporite sedimentary layer, perhaps above the current level of sediments.
Meanwhile the SAM team have published findings (link below) showing the presence of gas (nitric oxide NO) formed from the breakdown of nitrates. This nitrate was present in the Rocknest sand and the John_Klein and Cumberland mudstones. That is important because ‘fixed’ nitrogen of this type is regarded as one of the essential parts of an habitable environment for microbial life.
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