That catalog also contains neon signs, gas pumps and a 1927 Aeolian residential pipe organ so large it formerly occupied two rooms in a mansion in Walnut Lake, Mich.

FORBES: Trains, More Trains & Automobiles

The island of Sicily has some sensational coastlines of its own, but slip across to the seven Aeolian islands a short boat ride away and you are into otherworldly territory, part of a jagged volcanic ridge.

BBC: Italy��s finest coastlines

At first glance, it might seem obvious that it was through the action of flowing water (fluvial), but the Curiosity team needs to rule out the possibility that these rocks were deposited by the wind (aeolian) or by some kind of surge, such as the fast-moving clouds of gas and rock that will often plummet down the sides of particular types of volcano (a pyroclastic surge).

BBC: Curiosity Mars rover to investigate classic rock type