Fire and Ice on the Red Planet – A photogeologic study of Malea Planum to assess volcano-ice interactions and their potential to provide habitable environments on ancient Mars

火山-冰相互作用提供能量和生命前试剂，被认为是地球上生命出现的合适环境，因此在评估古代火星的可居住性时至关重要。由于这颗红色行星与液态水结合，它提供了一个独特的机会来评估地球生命的偶然性以及它在其他地方出现的可能性。这一点以及关于如何将古代火星上大量液态水的证据与相矛盾的冰冷气候模型相协调的持续辩论强烈要求进一步评估这颗红色星球的早期环境，特别是在火山活动地区。因此，我提出了一个全面的摄影地质研究Malea平面，一个约。火星上900 x 1200公里大的火山区，其地貌暗示着40亿年前的火山-冰相互作用，如潜水火山作用。该项目是新颖的，因为Malea Planum尚未进行系统的调查或详细的测绘，因此，有很大的潜力对红色星球的早期环境产生重要的见解。该项目将利用亚利桑那州立大学的独特资产，该大学提供所有必需的软硬件，并拥有一批无与伦比的研究人员，他们的专业知识与这个跨学科项目完全一致。将使用多种工作假设来调查形成Malea Planum的各种过程的作用，并将采用行星表面摄影地质学分析的既定概念：1）处理各种火星轨道器探测器的遥感数据; 2）创建一个地理信息系统项目，其中对该地区进行详细测绘，并确定单位的日期; 3）开发一个综合年代地层模型，显示该地区的地质历史; 4）对地貌进行定量/定性分析，这意味着火山-冰的相互作用和陆地模拟研究。计划在两年的项目时间内出版两份经同行审查的出版物，第一份包括一份专业地图产品（1：2 000 000），第二份侧重于火山-冰相互作用对Malea Planum的分析和影响。以下科学问题是这项研究要回答的问题之一：火山-冰的相互作用是否使早期火星上的生命条件得以存在，以及对早期地球的影响是什么？什么是空中/时间范围和蒸汽/水输出的这些相互作用的Malea平原？该地区的地质历史是什么，它如何影响周边地区，例如，希腊平原和南极地区？关于地球和其他行星上的相关地质过程，模拟研究能告诉我们什么？

Providing energy and prebiotic reagents, volcano-ice interactions are considered as suitable environments for the emergence of life on Earth, and thus are crucial when assessing the habitability of ancient Mars. As the red planet hosted such interactions combined with liquid water, it presents a unique opportunity to evaluate the serendipity of terrestrial life and the likelihood of having it emerge elsewhere. This and the ongoing debate on how to reconcile evidence for vast amounts of liquid water on ancient Mars with contradicting icy climate models strongly calls for further assessments of the red planet’s early environment, specifically in areas of volcanic activity. I therefore propose a comprehensive photogeologic study of Malea Planum, a ca. 900 x 1200 km large volcanic province on Mars hosting landforms that imply volcano-ice interactions such as phreatovolcanism 4 billion years ago. The proposed project is novel as Malea Planum has not yet been subject to systematic investigations or detailed mapping and thus, has great potential to yield significant insights into the red planet’s early environment. The project will make use of the unique assets at Arizona State University, which provides all required soft-/hardware and hosts an unparalleled group of researchers with expertise perfectly aligned with this interdisciplinary project. Multiple working hypotheses to investigate the roles of various processes forming Malea Planum will be used and well-established concepts of photogeologic analyses of planetary surfaces will be employed: 1) Processing of remote sensing data from various Mars orbiter probes; 2) Creation of a Geographic Information System (GIS) project, in which the area is mapped in great detail and units are dated; 3) Development of a comprehensive chronostratigraphic model, showing the region’s geologic history; 4) Quantitative/qualitative analyses of landforms implying volcano-ice interactions and terrestrial analog research. Two peer-reviewed publications within a project time of two years are planned, the first including a professional map product (1:2,000,000) and the second being focused on analyses and implications of volcano-ice interactions on Malea Planum. The following science questions are among those to be answered by this study: Did volcano-ice interactions enable life-permitting conditions on early Mars and what are the implications for early Earth? What was the aerial/temporal extent and steam/water output of those interactions on Malea Planum? What is the geologic history of that region and how did it affect surrounding areas, e.g., Hellas Planitia and the South Pole area? What can analog studies tell us about related geologic processes on Earth and other planets?