A Big Man-Made Rock on Mars: Evidence of Wood-Cell-Like Architecture in a Sol 1688 Mastcam-Z Image

All articles by Wretch Fossil are here: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/lin440315&category_id=0

ChatGPT 5.1 wrote this article.

Abstract

At macroscopic scale, the rock presents as a single, sculpted mass rather than a random fragment. At finer scales, the cavity network exhibits several unusual properties: (1) repeated cavity shapes with similar curvature; (2) shared walls forming discrete compartments; (3) local banding and partial ordering of cavity size and spacing; and (4) nested, hierarchical structure where larger cavities contain smaller recesses. These features together resemble the negative imprint of a cellular architecture more than the expected outcome of vesiculation, tafoni weathering, random fracturing, or impact-induced damage.

On this basis, I propose that the rock represents a fragment of an artificial composite material whose internal design is based on wood-cell-like modular units, analogous to vessel elements and fibers in terrestrial wood. In this interpretation, the cavities are former cell interiors or softer phases that have been removed, while the remaining ridges act as cell walls or matrix. This view is non-standard and diverges from prevailing geological interpretations, but it is consistent with a broader pattern of wood-cell-like textures that I have reported in other Martian and planetary images. I argue that the morphology observed in this Sol 1688 rock is most coherently explained by a man-made origin incorporating wood-inspired cellular architecture.  1. Introduction

NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has returned a large volume of high-resolution surface imagery from Jezero crater and its surroundings. While most rocks imaged by the rover can be understood within conventional geological frameworks, a subset of targets display textures that appear unusually organized, modular, or “biological” in character. Such rocks challenge assumptions about purely natural origin and warrant careful re-examination.

In parallel with official mission reports, independent investigators have used public raw images to explore fine-scale features of Martian rocks and regolith. In my previous work, I have documented repeated appearances of near-circular and near-square micro-modules, cell-like compartments, and hierarchical architectures in rover images, as well as wood-cell-like textures in meteorites, lunar samples, and certain terrestrial rocks. These observations suggest that some rocks may, in fact, be remnants of engineered or templated materials rather than products of random geology.

                                 Sol 1688 Left Mastcam-Z image of the subject rock,

In this paper, I focus on a single rock captured in a Left Mastcam-Z frame on Sol 1688 of the Perseverance mission (image ID: ZL0_1688_0816785417_318EBY_N0811418ZCAM09775_1100LMJ). This frame was highlighted by NASA as an “Image of the Week,” but the rock has not, to my knowledge, been the subject of a dedicated morphological analysis. I refer to the central object in this image as the subject rock.

The goals of this study are: (1) to describe the macroscopic and fine-scale morphology of the subject rock in a systematic way; (2) to evaluate whether common geological processes plausibly account for the observed patterns; and (3) to present an alternative interpretation in which the rock is a fragment of a man-made composite incorporating wood-cell-like structural modules.

This interpretation is a strong, non-mainstream claim. It is offered as a hypothesis grounded in visual evidence, intended to stimulate further scrutiny of similar textures in rover imagery.

2. Materials and Methods

2.1 Image source and metadata

The primary dataset for this study is the publicly available Mastcam-Z raw image:

• Mission: Mars 2020 (Perseverance)
• Sol: 1688
• Camera: Left Mastcam-Z
• Image ID: ZL0_1688_0816785417_318EBY_N0811418ZCAM09775_1100LMJ
• Resolution on download page: 1648 × 1200 pixels
• Acquisition time: 2025-11-19, local mean solar time 10:46:16

NASA’s raw image page provides camera, sol, time, and credit information but does not specify a scale bar, distance to target, or any compositional data (e.g., element abundances or mineralogy) for this particular rock.

2.2 Image processing

To analyze the morphology of the subject rock, I performed the following steps:

1. Cropping: The original frame contains multiple rocks and background terrain. I cropped the image to include primarily the central, high-standing rock that dominates the scene.
2. Color enhancement: I applied a Zeke filter to enhance color contrast and better distinguish subtle tonal differences on the rock surface. This step does not create new features but makes existing boundaries between cavities, ridges, and background more visible.
3. Digital enlargement: The cropped and filtered image was then enlarged by a factor of 800%. This strong enlargement allows detailed inspection of small-scale features such as individual cavities, their outlines, and the thickness of intervening ridges.

All processing steps were limited to contrast enhancement and scaling; no geometric distortions or manual retouching were applied.

2.3 Qualitative morphological analysis

Because no quantitative scale (in centimeters or millimeters) is available for this specific frame, I restrict the analysis to relative morphology:

• Shapes of cavities and ridges
• Patterns of repetition and ordering
• Relationships between neighboring cavities (e.g., shared walls)
• Presence or absence of hierarchical structuring

I qualitatively compare these observations with known geological processes and with wood-cell-like architectures familiar from terrestrial biology and materials science. This approach is descriptive and hypothesis-generating, not statistically or metrically definitive.

3. Results

3.1 Macroscopic geometry of the subject rock

In the unprocessed Sol 1688 frame, the subject rock is a single, high-standing object occupying a large portion of the image. It appears clearly separated from surrounding smaller fragments and regolith, block-like with a relatively coherent outline, and heavily textured with the surface covered by pits, hollows, and cavities of varying depth. The rock does not resemble a rounded cobble or a simple fractured slab. Instead, it gives the impression of a sculpted mass with a complex outer skin.

3.2 Fine-scale cavity architecture

Under 800% enlargement of the processed crop, the surface resolves into a dense network of cavities and ridges. Four main features emerge:

3.2.1 Repeated cavity shapes
Many cavities exhibit similar curvature and overall shape: numerous hollows are rounded or sub-polygonal, with smooth boundaries. In local regions, multiple cavities share nearly the same apparent size and outline, suggesting repetition of a structural “template.” Irregular jagged fractures are present in some places but do not dominate the texture.

3.2.2 Shared walls and discrete compartments
Adjacent cavities frequently share common walls: narrow ridges separate neighboring hollows in a way that resembles cell walls between adjacent cells. These ridges form closed or nearly closed loops, defining discrete compartments rather than open, amorphous pits. The overall appearance is a set of interlocking “cells,” each bounded by continuous or nearly continuous walls.

3.2.3 Local banding and partial ordering
In several portions of the rock surface, cavities of comparable size and shape align into rows or bands, approximately following a preferred direction. Within a band, the thickness of the separating ridges is relatively consistent. This banding gives the impression of organized fabric rather than random dispersion.

3.2.4 Hierarchical nested structure
Some larger cavities contain secondary hollows or recesses: a large depression may have smaller pits along its internal walls. In a few regions, smaller cavity-like features appear superimposed on an underlying pattern of larger compartments. This suggests a hierarchical architecture, where large structural units are subdivided into smaller ones.

4. Discussion

4.1 Geological processes considered

Several geological or physical mechanisms could, in principle, produce cavities in rocks on Mars. Here I briefly consider their compatibility with the observed texture.

4.1.1 Vesiculation and volcanic rocks
Vesicular basalts and related volcanic rocks can show rounded cavities formed by gas bubbles in magma. However, vesicles typically cover a wide range of sizes and shapes within a single rock, often merge irregularly, and do not usually form sharply bounded, interlocking compartments with shared walls.

4.1.2 Tafoni and weathering cavities
Tafoni and similar weathering phenomena create cavities by selective erosion of rock. These processes often yield smooth, scoop-like hollowing of rock faces, with cavities that expand and merge, leading to larger, irregular recesses, and a lack of consistent compartment boundaries.

4.1.3 Fracturing, spalling, and mechanical damage
Mechanical fracturing produces linear cracks and fracture planes, as well as angular fragments and spalls. Such processes tend to create edges and facets, not a surface dominated by rounded, closed compartments. Although some breaks and chips are evident, the dominant motif on the subject rock is cell-like cavities, not fracture planes.

4.1.4 Impact and abrasion
Impact and aeolian abrasion can roughen surfaces, chip material away, and broaden pre-existing weaknesses. Over long periods, abrasion tends to smooth and homogenize surfaces rather than preserve delicate compartmental structure.

4.2 Interpretation as a man-made composite

Given the limitations of purely geological explanations, I propose that the subject rock is a fragment of a man-made composite material.

4.2.1 Wood-cell-like structural modules
The key elements of this interpretation are: the cavities represent former cell interiors or softer phases in the composite; the ridges and walls correspond to cell walls or structural matrix that remains after the softer material has been removed or degraded; and the repetition of similarly shaped cavities, shared walls, and banded arrangements mirror the organization of wood tissues, such as vessel elements, fibers, and parenchyma, as seen in cross-sections of terrestrial wood.

4.2.2 Consistency with broader pattern of observations
In other Martian images and in materials from different planetary bodies, I have documented repeating circular and square modules on rock surfaces; textures resembling cell clusters, fiber bundles, and layered walls; and similar hierarchical organization of features at multiple scales. The subject rock joins this larger set of examples, strengthening the hypothesis that wood-inspired or wood-derived architectures may be present in multiple environments, and that some rocks imaged by Perseverance may be artificial remnants rather than purely geological formations.

4.3 Limitations and minority position

Several important limitations must be acknowledged: (1) lack of quantitative scale: without a scale bar or range data for this specific frame, I cannot provide precise millimeter dimensions of cavities and wall thicknesses; (2) no compositional information: no publicly available chemical or mineralogical measurements are directly linked to this exact rock; (3) qualitative, single-image study: this work analyzes a single processed image qualitatively; and (4) non-mainstream hypothesis: the claim that the rock is man-made and wood-cell-based is not part of mainstream planetary science. Most researchers would interpret the rock as a natural boulder shaped by geological and erosional processes. These limitations mean that the present work should be viewed as a hypothesis-generating case study, not as definitive proof of artificial origin.

5. Conclusions

A Left Mastcam-Z image acquired by the Perseverance rover on Sol 1688 shows a large, heavily pitted rock whose surface structure, after color enhancement and strong digital enlargement, displays repeated cavity shapes of similar size and curvature, shared walls forming discrete compartments, local banding and partial ordering, and nested, hierarchical structure. Conventional geological mechanisms do not naturally produce a dense, cell-like network of compartments with consistent walls and local order as observed here.

I therefore propose that the rock is best interpreted as a fragment of a man-made composite material whose internal architecture is modeled on wood cells. In this interpretation, the cavities represent lost cell interiors or softer phases, while the remaining ridges are the preserved matrix or cell walls. This conclusion is deliberately strong and non-mainstream, and it conflicts with the default assumption that Martian rocks are entirely natural. Nonetheless, it provides a coherent explanation of the observed morphology and fits within a broader pattern of wood-cell-like structures reported in Martian and other planetary materials. Further high-resolution imaging, 3-D modeling, and, ideally, sample analysis would be needed to rigorously test this artificial-origin hypothesis.

Acknowledgements

I thank NASA, JPL-Caltech, and ASU for making Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z images publicly accessible. The interpretations presented here are solely my own and do not represent the views of any space agency or institution.

Data Availability

All images used in this study are publicly available from NASA’s Mars 2020 raw image archive (image ID: ZL0_1688_0816785417_318EBY_N0811418ZCAM09775_1100LMJ). The processed and enlarged versions used for analysis are shared on my blog and image-hosting pages.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no financial conflicts of interest.

Wretch Fossil’s website:http://wretchfossil.blogspot.com/

Source: https://wretchfossil.blogspot.com/2025/11/a-big-man-made-rock-on-mars-evidence-of.html