The stratigraphic history of Arabia Terra, Mars

使用各种各样的遥感数据，包括来自NASA和ESA航天器的最新非常高分辨率的图像(0.25-5米/像素)，来破译和记录火星一个重要区域的地质和地貌。发展地理信息系统、行星地貌地层学、通过陨石坑计数数字高程模型生产的行星表面测年、沉积学、地层学、数据合成和学术著作方面的技能。加入一个由英国行星科学中心的研究人员领导的大型、充满活力的研究小组，他们积极参与火星任务和仪器。阿拉伯地是火星最古老的部分之一，也是欧洲航天局2020年外火星探测器的目的地。阿拉伯土地是一个迷人的地区，具有多样化的地质，包括广泛的冲积、构造、火山、沉积和侵蚀过程的证据。最近的研究表明，在火星的古代诺阿契亚时期(&gt；37亿年前)，阿拉伯地拥有广泛的河流系统，现在被揭示为规则和倒置的河道或山谷系统(1，2)。河流景观已经从各种各样的叠加但严重侵蚀的地层下挖掘出来，这些地层的来源通常不清楚，现在暴露在悬崖和垫层平面上。例如，阿拉伯土地上冒出了巨大的沉积沉积物，被称为“蚀刻地形”。它们是曾经在地区范围内分布广泛的单位的残余物，自那以来大多已被拆除。提出的关于其起源的假说包括来自巨型火山的火山碎屑、风成沉积或被深度侵蚀的冲积沉积。该地区也出现了更年轻、更薄、形态独特的其他抵抗单位的例子，包括在ExoMars Rover着陆点--这些单位通常被认为是火山起源的，但人们对它们知之甚少。最后，在阿拉伯土地的边缘可以看到数百甚至数千个高起伏、陡峭的侵蚀残留物，似乎是再次扩大的、数十米厚的沉积层的全部遗迹。该项目旨在研究所有这些地层的区域分布，并将它们置于区域和时间背景下，限制可能的沉积、侵蚀和保存过程。这对于了解火星的地质历史，以及生物标志物的蚀变和保存潜力都是重要的。成功的候选人将使用非常高分辨率(1-20米)的数字地形模型、图像和多/高光谱数据研究这些单元的形态、沉积学和地层学。将使用连续测量的厚度、倾角、抗侵蚀能力以及识别分层中的几何形状和重复模式来检验这些单元的起源的各种假说，或建立新的工作假说。该项目包括使用25厘米/像素的HiRISE数据和新的4-5米/像素的彩色CASIS数据进行的接近露头规模的详细研究，以及使用较低分辨率的遥感产品进行的天气调查和制图研究。该项目将由行星环境研究小组主办

Use a broad variety of remote sensing data, including the latest very high-resolution images (0.25-5 m/pixel) from NASA and ESA spacecraft, to decipher and record the geology and geomorphology of an important region of Mars.Develop skills in GIS, planetary morphostratigraphic mapping, planetary surface dating by 'crater counting' Digital Elevation Model production, sedimentology, stratigraphy, data synthesis and academic writing.Join a large, dynamic research group with active Mars mission and instrument involvement, led by researchers working at the heart of UK planetary science.Arabia Terra is one of the most ancient parts of Mars and is the destination for ESA's 2020 ExoMars Rover. Arabia Terra is a fascinating region, with a diverse geology including evidence for extensive alluvial, tectonic, volcanic, depositional and erosional processes. Recent work has shown that during Mars' ancient Noachian Period (> 3.7 Billion years ago) Arabia Terra hosted extensive river systems that are now revealed as regular and inverted channel or valleys systems (1,2). The fluvial landscape has been exhumed from beneath a diverse variety of superimposing, but heavily eroded, strata of generally unknown origin and is now exposed in cliffs and bedding planes.For example, vast sedimentary deposits known as "etched terrains" crop out across Arabia Terra. They are remnants of once regionally-extensive units that have since been mostly removed. Proposed hypotheses for their origin include volcaniclastics from 'megavolcanoes', aeolian deposits or deeply eroded alluvial deposits. Younger, thinner and morphologically distinct examples of other resistant units also occur across the region, including at the ExoMars Rover landing site - these are often assumed to volcanic in origin, but little is known about them. Lastly, many hundreds or even thousands of high-relief, steep-sided erosional remnants are seen around the margins of Arabia Terra and appear to be all that is left of a once more extensive, tens of metres thick, sedimentary layers.This project aims to examine the regional distribution of all of these strata and put them into a regional and temporal context and to constrain the possible depositional, erosional and preservation processes. This is important for understanding the geological history of Mars, and for the alteration and preservation potential of biomarkers. The successful candidate will investigate the morphology, sedimentology and stratigraphy of these units using very high resolution (1-20 m) Digital Terrain Models, images and multi/hyperspectral data.ContinuedMeasurements of thickness, dip, erosion resistance and identification of geometries and repeated patterns in the layering will be used to test the various hypotheses for the origin of these units, or to build new working hypotheses. The project includes both detailed studies at near outcrop-scale using 25 cm/pixel HiRISE data and the new 4-5 m/pixel colour CaSSIS data, and synoptic survey and mapping studies using lower resolution remote sensing products.The project will be hosted in the Planetary Environments Research Group