Hi HHBecause it was evident from the f...

Hi HH

Because it was evident from the first images on the strong and weak magnetic substrates that there appeared to be "movement" of some particles It was very predictable that the explanation would be magnetic effects and effects due to the movement of the substrate stage and its cover.

However, those facts do not explain the very small spheres that are embedded in the dust that is presumably derived from the larger small rocks (100 um or so in diameter).

They also do not fully explain the external small filaments and spheres that appear to be attached to some larger oval shaped particles that have a dark "skin" (for lack of a better word) and a lighter coloured interior. Although it is possible that magnetic attraction between the larger particles and the smaller filaments, etc might be the reason, I would really like to have access to better focused images of these particles to definitively say that they are likely to be sterile minerals.

The shape of many of the particles are somewhat ambiguous and the question on whether or not they are derived from bio or geo material is not likely to be solved until good AFM images of representative samples of all the various types of particles are made.

The gif anim procedure derives from only a very few frames which might be totally unrepresentative of any actual movement so one should not pay much credence to the anomalous movements in any gif sequence of the OM images at Phoenix.

However, the "tails" need further detailed OM EDF or AFM examination.

Also, because the particles are magnetic does not mean that they are automatically derived from geological minerals without any bio component.

Winston