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A R C H I V E S

Meridiani Planum is a vast and relatively flat Plain located near the Martian Equator, in the Westernmost portion of the Region known as Terra Meridiani.

Meridiani Planum hosts, among many other things, a rare occurrence of Gray Crystalline Hematite. On Earth, Hematite can either form in and/or near still active Volcanic Environments (specifically, near and/or inside Hot Springs), or in standing pools of Water (such as areas where the Water is totally still and, in time, disappears, either because of evaporation, or by way of of absorption from the Surface). In the light of the above considerations, many scientists believe that the Hematite which has been so far discovered almost all over Meridiani Planum, may be indicative of the existence of either (ancient) Hot Springs, or that the environment, once (actually, we believe not earlier that a Billion Years ago), contained Liquid Water; more specifically, it is thought that the Desert that, now, is the whole territory of Meridiani Planum, could (or better yet: should) have been, a very long time ago, a relatively small Ocean, whose Waters were characterized by the fact of being, at the same time, both shallow and (substantially) still.

It is also strongly believed by the Scientific Community that almost all the Hematite of Meridiani Planum is just part of a Layered Sedimentary Rock Formation (some sort of "Paving" that can often be seen surfacing from under the Sands), about 200 to 800 meters thick. Other interesting Surace Features that can be found inside Meridiani Planum include Volcanic Basalt, small, medium and large-sized Impact Craters, as well as Erratic Boulders and some really unusually-looking (and, so far, totally unexplained) "Mini-Craters" which, according to us, could be the evidence of an extremely widespread phenomenon of Subsidence (a phenomenon that, always in our opinion - as IPF - is still ongoing in Meridiani Planum and is acting on both a large - considering its geographic spreading - and a small scale - once the average size of these Surface Depressions is taken into account).

However, the most peculiar Surface Feature that has been up to now discovered almost everywhere in Meridiani Planum, consists of some sort of "Spherules" (also known as "Martian Berries") whose real origin and nature, in our opinion (and all the certainties and explanations shown and given, respectively, by the Worldwide Scientific Community about them notwithstanding), are still VERY far from being clear, convincing and undisputed.

The three frames forming this sequence have been colorized in Natural Colors (such as the colors that a perfetct human eye would actually perceive if someone were near the NASA - Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity and then looked towards the Horizon and the Sky above), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.