The robot has returned pictures of classic conglomerates - rocks that are made up of gravels and sand.
Scientists on the mission team say the size and rounded shape of the pebbles in the rock indicate they had been transported and eroded in water.
Researchers think the rover has found a network of ancient streams.
The rocks, which were described by scientists at a news conference at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, were likely laid down "several billion years ago".
The US space agency's $2.6bn mission touched down on the Red Planet on 6 August (GMT).
Much of the time since then has been spent commissioning the immensely complex, six-wheeled machine and its suite of 10 instruments.
Curiosity is funded for one Martian year (two Earth years) of study. It will try to determine in that time whether past environments at Gale Crater could ever have supported microbial life.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos
No comments:
Post a Comment