Mars sedimentary geology: key concepts and outstanding questions.
Mars sedimentary geology: key concepts and outstanding questions.
复制标题
火星沉积地质学：关键概念和突出问题。
作者：
J. Grotzinger;D. Beaty;G. Dromart;Sanjeev Gupta;Mitch Harris;J. Hurowitz;G. Kocurek;S. McLennan;R. Milliken;G. Ori;D. Sumner
在行星表面运行的过程具有
有可能记录下行星演化的历史，
沉积岩的形式。这很重要，因为我们的
地球上的经验表明，
岩石是高分辨率替代品的主要档案，
现在和过去的构造、气候和生物过程。
我们对地球上古老的
气候和古生物记录来自详细的
矿物学、结构学和地球化学的检查
沉积岩记录中保存的特征
不到十年前，沉积岩首次在火星上被发现（Malin和Edgett，2000年）。最近对火星快车和火星勘测轨道飞行器收集的数据的解释证实了这些沉积岩的惊人丰富，水在火星表面的过去作用，以及在某些情况下与地球上形成的沉积岩的相似性。厚的富硫酸盐矿床可与陆地碳酸盐岩进行比较（Grotzinger等人，2005年）。在其他情况下，富含粘土的地层被解释为源-汇系统的终端沉积物，在流域的上游具有发达的河流网络，可以追溯到火星最早的历史中一个更潮湿的时期（Ehlmann等人，2008;梅斯等人，2009年）。然而，这些类似地球的沉积系统与太阳系中可能独特的其他沉积物形成对比：例如，与地球大陆一样大的广阔地形被厚厚的地层覆盖，这些地层可能完全来自风输送的尘埃的沉降（Bridges等人，2010年）。无论它们的起源如何，现在很明显，火星上的沉积岩代表了一个新的研究前沿。火星科学正处于探索的黄金时代过去十年的轨道飞行器和着陆任务已经产生了大量与沉积物和沉积岩分析相关的新数据，并且为未来的任务提供了强大的国际计划。为了促进对这些数据的讨论，第一届火星沉积学和地层学国际会议在埃尔
2010年4月，德克萨斯州帕索。这张白色纸上的内容
代表了会议最重要的成果，
与共同作者提供的额外信息，
重点关注未来调查的七个关键问题，
沉积地质群落
Processes that operate at planetary surfaces have the
potential to record a history of planetary evolution in the
form of sedimentary rocks. This is important because our
experience on Earth shows that sediments and sedimentary
rocks are the dominant archive of high-resolution proxies of
present and past tectonic, climatic, and biological processes.
Our understanding of the evolution of Earth’s very ancient
climate and paleobiological records derives from detailed
examination of the mineralogical, textural, and geochemical
signatures preserved in the sedimentary rock record.
Sedimentary rocks were first recognized on Mars less than a decade ago (Malin and Edgett, 2000). Recent interpretations of data collected by the Mars Express and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft have confirmed the surprising abundance of these sedimentary rocks, the past role of water on the martian surface, and the similarity—in some cases—to sedimentary rocks formed on Earth. Thick sulfaterich deposits invite comparison to terrestrial evaporites (Grotzinger et al., 2005). In other cases, clay-rich strata are interpreted as the terminal deposits of source-to-sink systems with well-developed fluvial networks in the upper reaches of watersheds that date back to a much wetter period in Mars’ earliest history (Ehlmann et al., 2008; Metz et al., 2009). However, these Earth-like depositional systems contrast with other deposits that may be unique in the Solar System: for example, vast terrains as large as Earth’s continents covered by thick veneers of strata that may derive entirely from settling out of wind-transported dust (Bridges et al., 2010). Whatever their origin, it is now clear that the sedimentary rocks of Mars represent a new frontier for research. Mars science is in its golden era of exploration—the past decade of orbiter and landed missions has produced an extraordinary amount of new data relevant to the analysis of sediments and sedimentary rocks, and robust international programs exist for future missions. To help stimulate discussion of these data, the First International Conference on Mars Sedimentology and Stratigraphy was convened in El
Paso, Texas, in April 2010. The contents of this white paper
represent the most significant findings of the conference,
with additional information provided by the coauthors, and
focus on seven key questions for future investigation by the
sedimentary geology community.
火星阿瑞斯山谷灾难性外流事件的精确年表
影响因子：
5.3
作者：
Warner N
通讯作者：
Warner N