NASA’s Curiosity Rover continues to make discoveries as it surpassed it’s 3,000th day on Mars, having touched down on the planet on Aug. 6, 2012. 

The rover has been roaming the three-mile tall Mount Sharp on Mars since 2014, and geologists have recently been intrigued by a series of rock “benches” shown by the most recent panorama from Curiosity. 

The panorama was captured by the Mast Camera, which serves as the rover’s main “eyes.” In the center of the panorama is the floor of the 96-mile wide Gale Crater that Mount Sharp sits within. Mount Sharp’s rock layers shaped by lakes and streams billions of years ago are visible in the picture as well. 

Scientists have hypothesized that the bench-like formations were formed as softer layers of rock erode and the harder layers form small cliffs. They can also form during a landslide when curved slabs of bedrock slide downhill. Curiosity’s team has seen benches before in Gale Crater, but rarely forming such a scenic grouping of steps.

“Our science team is excited to figure out how they formed and what they mean for the ancient environment within Gale,” said Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which built and manages the rover.

This year, the rover has been driving across a clay-bearing region called “Glen Torridon.” After making a pit stop at a location nicknamed “Mary Anning,” it’s continued toward the next major layer, called “the sulfate-bearing unit.”

To learn more about NASA’s Curiosity Rover, click here.

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