The Geological History of Valles Marineris, Mars

火星是太阳系中最像地球的行星，它也受到地球上许多地质过程的影响。火山活动、风蚀、水驱动的过程和冰川都在塑造火星表面方面发挥了作用。长期以来，这种相似性激发了人类的想象力，了解火星的地质历史一直是一个重要的目标。由于缺乏板块构造，火星表面保留了行星进化的早期阶段，而我们在地球上很容易接触到。目前美国宇航局好奇号火星车在大约36亿年历史的盖尔陨石坑内的主要目标是通过调查陨石坑中的分层沉积物来调查火星是否有一个能够支持生命的环境。

Mars exhibits the most Earth-like conditions of all planets within our solar system and is affected by many of the same geological processes found on Earth. Volcanism, wind erosion, water-driven processes and glaciers have all played a role in shaping the surface of Mars. This similarity has inspired mankind's imagination for a long time and understanding the geological history of Mars has been an important goal. Because of the lack of plate tectonics, the Martian surface preserves an earlier stage of planetary evolution than we can easily access on Earth. The primary goal of the current NASA Curiosity rover mission within the ~3.6 billion year old Gale crater is to investigate whether Mars had an environment able to support life by investigating layered deposits in that crater.