From Warm And Wet To Cold And Dry On Mars: Ancient Environments As Seen From A Rover Perspective

火星上从温暖潮湿到寒冷干燥：从漫游车的角度看古代环境

• 批准号: 2887718
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: The Open University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2887718
• 关键词: Warm; Wet; Cold; Dry; Mars

My interest in geology began as a child when I lifted every other pebble on my hometown's beach. Scientific understanding was added to this curiosity with a Geography GCSE, a Geology A Level, a Geology and Petroleum BSc and a Planetary Science MSc. I have loved learning about the Earth's past environments and applying it to other planetary bodies. I have a strong geoscience base with a BSc in Geology and Petroleum Geology, from The University of Aberdeen. This degree taught me how to analyse past environments from geological samples. I then went on to complete an MSc in Planetary Science at University College London. Where I learnt the geological history of other planetary bodies and explored earth-based analogues for them. The recent launch of Mars2020 has inspired andprovoked an academic focus on understanding Mars environment and habitability. I would love to work with the future samples that will be returned by this mission in my later career. Therefore, getting to support NASAs Curiosity and Perseverance missions by determining what environmental conditions were present for water-rock reaction processes at the rover landing sites, especially as wetransition from a warm and wet to a cold and dry Mars.During the above degrees, I tailored my modules and essays to a Martian geology focus. Including a master's thesis titled, The Biwabik Formation as A Microfossil Analogue of Early Mars'. This included laboratory work, a literature review, a research paper, and a presentation. I am about to rewrite these results into a paper for submission to peer-reviewed journals. This project is composed of a mineralogical assessment of thin samples of the Biwabik Formation, a stromatolite-banded iron formation, this rock was used as an analogue for an early Mars shoreline. I recorded several potential biosignatures using optical microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. This allowed me to see many shapes that mirror carbon oxidation reactions such as spotting, botryoids and diffuse gradients. I also recorded organic matter and filamentous shapes, that may have come from fossilised bacteria. This project was preceded by a literature review that covered Martian geology, stromatolites, Biwabik formation geology, fossilised microbes, analytical techniques such as SEM EDS and Raman, carbon oxidation reactions, Martian exploration missions and biosignatures. I would like to continue to develop an expertise in Martian environments, past and present. This project inspires me as it assists with the largest question in science, were we the only habitable planet in our solar system? NASAs Curiosity and Perseverance are still working hard on Mars, examining the rocks as they transitioned from a wet Mars to a dry Mars and evaporation environment at the end of the Amazonian period. I want to contribute to the science that will help us understand and unravel the story of Mars when there may have been life created within lakes, by using thermochemical modelling to determine the environmental conditions that water rock interactionstook place. This life may have left evidence for us, such as altered minerals. I found evidence of similar mineral reactions within a Mars analogue, Biwabik formation stromatolites, during my MSc thesis. One day soon Perseverance Rover will send us back the first ever Martian return samples, extracted from the Jezero Crater. In the meantime, evaluating its biological potential using Earth-basedsimulations will be of great use to prove the findings in the sample. For example, recording secondary alteration minerals that are only produced by biotic processes, detectable by SHERLOC and SuperCam on board Perseverance, as these would be strong biosignatures

我对地质学的兴趣始于孩提时代，那时我在家乡的海滩上把每一块鹅卵石都举起来。科学的理解被添加到这个好奇心与地理GCSE，地质学A级，地质学和石油理学士和行星科学硕士。我喜欢了解地球过去的环境，并将其应用于其他行星机构。我有一个强大的地球科学基础，在地质学和石油地质学学士学位，从阿伯丁大学。这个学位教我如何从地质样本中分析过去的环境。然后我继续在伦敦大学学院完成了行星科学硕士学位。在那里，我学习了其他行星的地质历史，并探索了它们的地球类似物。最近的火星2020发射激发并激发了学术界对火星环境和可居住性的关注。我很想在我以后的职业生涯中与这个使命返回的未来样本一起工作。因此，通过确定火星车着陆点的水岩反应过程的环境条件，特别是当我们从温暖潮湿的火星过渡到寒冷干燥的火星时，来支持NASA的Curvature和Perseverance任务。在上述学位期间，我根据火星地质学的重点定制了我的模块和论文。包括一个硕士论文，题目是：Biwabik地层作为早期火星的微体化石。这包括实验室工作，文献综述，研究论文和演示文稿。我正准备将这些结果重写成一篇论文，提交给同行评审的期刊。该项目包括对Biwabik地层（一种叠层石带状铁地层）的薄样品进行矿物学评估，这种岩石被用作早期火星海岸线的模拟物。我用光学显微镜、拉曼光谱和扫描电子显微镜以及能量色散X射线光谱记录了几个潜在的生物特征。这让我看到了许多反映碳氧化反应的形状，如斑点，葡萄状和扩散梯度。我还记录了有机物和丝状物，它们可能来自细菌。在开展这一项目之前，先进行了一次文献审查，内容涉及火星地质学、叠层石、Biwabik地层地质学、微生物化石、SEM EDS和拉曼等分析技术、碳氧化反应、火星探测任务和生物特征。我想继续发展火星环境的专业知识，过去和现在。这个项目激励着我，因为它帮助解决了科学中最大的问题，我们是太阳系中唯一适合居住的行星吗？NASA的Cursley和Perseverance仍在火星上努力工作，检查岩石，因为它们从潮湿的火星过渡到干燥的火星和亚马逊时期末的蒸发环境。我想通过使用热化学模型来确定水岩相互作用所处的环境条件，为帮助我们理解和解开火星上湖泊中可能产生生命的故事做出贡献。这种生命可能给我们留下了证据，比如改变的矿物。在我的硕士论文中，我发现了火星类似物Biwabik地层中类似矿物反应的证据。不久的一天，毅力号火星车将把从热泽罗陨石坑提取的第一批火星样本送回给我们。与此同时，使用地球模拟评估其生物潜力将非常有助于证明样本中的发现。例如，记录仅由生物过程产生的次生蚀变矿物，可由Perseverance上的SHERCAND和SuperCam检测，因为这些将是强有力的生物特征