That's an unmistakeable spiral shape. This site reminds me of Guseve crater, which was another wash basin, where various artifacts were washed down from the surrounding higher elevations. One would think NASA/JPL were aware of that when selecting Gale crater.
I think this may be one of those doughnut-shapes again. It seems to me that our eyes may be filling in the missing pieces of the spiral (or maybe it IS a spiral?) but if it is not, then these doughnut shapes might be early-warning radar-like things.
I have seen them all over the place and not sure what they are. They are often placed near areas where there are cities or inhabitation and so that is why I think they maybe early-warning radar kind of things. Although the central 'blob' or ball is not a depression like in a doughnut, from far off, it looks like a light circle within a larger circle and we have examples of these of all differing sizes. I have done my magic on it and you can see what you think....
and other examples of the doughnut shape in this image (but maybe I see doughnut-shapes everywhere?) To me they appear as if they are placed there on purpose with a small cleared area around them which gives the impression that they are slightly raised and apart from, from the surrounding rocks. This is why I think they are more than just rocks - I think they are devices of some kind. I can also see a cat-like carving on the front of this structure which I may have seen before in the 'shelters' thread perhaps. There also seem to be numerous ball-shaped blueberries arranged in lines at the front of this rock.
-- Edited by qmantoo on Tuesday 28th of August 2012 05:37:18 AM
isn't that another cone at one o'clock position ? That one is half buried in the ground but it looks to be a cone too and with a 'V' in the rim like the one you show. Maybe cut out the lower one, rotate it slightly, tilt it forward, and place it on the one at one o'clock and see if they "fit" each other. They are certainly a strange shape for a rock.