The geology of Mars from studies of martian meteorites

在机器人或人类被送上火星并带回样本之前，火星陨石是我们唯一可供研究的火星样本。 我们知道它们来自火星，因为其中的气体与维京海盗号着陆器测量的火星大气成分相匹配。 这些陨石为我们研究另一个星球的地质提供了机会。 所有的火星陨石都类似于地球上的玄武岩。 通过与地球的类比，我们知道这些岩石是由火星地幔熔化出来的岩浆结晶而形成的。 这些熔化物上升到火星表面，在那里冷却并结晶。 陨石中也有矿物质，这是水通过岩石渗透的证据。 此外，我们还有一些玻璃袋，这些玻璃袋是在岩石内部的局部区域被加热时形成的，这是将岩石送入太空并开始其地球之旅的影响的结果。 这些玻璃袋就是火星大气层的所在。

Until robots or humans are sent to Mars and bring back samples, martian meteorites are the only samples of Mars that we have available for study. We know they are from Mars because gas trapped within them matches the composition of the martian atmosphere as measured by the Viking landers. These meteorites provide us with an opportunity study the geology of another planet. All of the martian meteorites are similar to basalts from the Earth. By analogy with the Earth, we know that these rocks were formed by crystallization of magma that was melted out of the martian mantle. This melt ascended to the surface of Mars, where it cooled and crystallized. There are also minerals within the meteorites that are evidence for the activity of water percolating through the rocks. In addition we have pockets of glass that formed when local areas within the rock were heated, as a result of the impact that lofted the rock into space and started its journey to Earth. These pockets of glass are where the martian atmosphere is found.