Blueberries in Mars and in Utah

Moqui Marbles on a sandstone slope. Credit: Marjorie Chan, University of Utah.

The next photo is from Mars.

These loose, BB-sized, hematite-rich spherules are embedded in this Martian rock like blueberries in a muffin and released over time by erosion. The Mars Rover Opportunity found this cluster of them at its Eagle Crater landing site and analyzed their composition with its spectrometers.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Stephen Smith wrote about them:

They resemble the Moqui marbles as in Southwestern USA. The majority of them are iron shells enclosing a sandstone core. Could the same electric arcs that are thought to have carved the Red Planet transmute elements: reforming the atomic structure of silicon (with 28 particles in its nucleus) into that of iron (with 56)?

Transmuting silicon into iron is a process that can happen in nuclear fusion reactions. The silicon-burning process article in Wikipedia has more details on this process, which is theorized to happen in massive stars near the end of their main-sequence lives. Apparently that requires silicon to reach temperatures in the range of 2.7–3.5 billion kelvins (GK, or 230–300 keV).

There is some literature around the web that seems to point to the ability of electric arcs to transmute elements. Read with caution, though.

M. W. Evans, H. Eckardt, and D. W. Lindstrom, CE Theory of Low Energy Interaction from the Fermion Equation and Carbon Arc Induced Nuclear Fusion.
[Bibtex]

@Unpublished{evansetal2012,
  author =    {{Evans}, M. W. and {Eckardt}, H. and {Lindstrom}, D. W.},
  title =     {CE Theory of Low Energy Interaction from the Fermion Equation and Carbon Arc Induced Nuclear Fusion},
  file =      {evansetal2012.pdf:evansetal2012.pdf:PDF},
  owner =     {trismegisto},
  timestamp = {2015.12.28},
  url =       {https://drmyronevans.wordpress.com/2012/09/18/for-posting-assembled-final-uft227/}
}

P. Rowe, “Controlled Transmutation of Elements Under Surprisingly Mild Conditions?,” Infinite Energy, 1996.
[Bibtex]

@Article{rowe1996,
  Title                    = {Controlled Transmutation of Elements Under Surprisingly Mild Conditions?},
  Author                   = {Paul Rowe},
  Journal                  = {Infinite Energy},
  Year                     = {1996},

  File                     = {rowe1996.pdf:rowe1996.pdf:PDF},
  Owner                    = {trismegisto},
  Timestamp                = {2015.12.28},
  Url                      = {http://blog.hasslberger.com/2007/03/controlled_transmutation_of_el.html}
}

unews.utah.edu (archived)

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