Odyssey crater and “white slab”

The Opportunity rover has moved closer to Odyssey crater, the small crater on Cape York, which lies just inside the rim of Endeavour crater. The view shows many rocks, of a wide range of sizes, still sitting on the ground just outside of the crater, ejected there after impact a long, long, time ago. One in particular I’ve nicknamed “white slab” has caught peoples’ interest, as it is a large flat-topped rock with a white-looking surface on top (as usual, click on image for larger version):

"White slab" at Odyssey crater (near centre of image). Credit: Michael Howard (Midnight Martian)/NASA/JPL

A bit of a closer view:

"White slab" at Odyssey crater. Credit: NASA/JPL

Is the white material of a different minerology? Is it related to the “white slivers” seen nearby on the ground or the sulphates seen before by the rover or perhaps even the clays? Hopefully Opportunity will be asked by the rover team to take a closer look.

Update: I had a little chat with Scott Maxwell, one of the rover drivers, on Twitter (@marsroverdriver), and he informed me that the rock is now called Tisdale, and will be indeed be examined up close in the next couple days or so, especially since it also seems to be nicely layered. 🙂