Fluvial And Lacustrine Processes On Mars, And Their Relevance To Exploring Mars' Habitability

ExoMars罗莎琳德富兰克林火星车使命[1]将于2022年中期发射，并于2023年6月在火星的Oxia Planum [2]区域着陆。罗莎琳德富兰克林的目标是在近浅的地下找到古代生命的证据。为了完成这一目标，罗莎琳德富兰克林将使用其PanCam仪器，配合轨道遥感研究，探索着陆点的地质背景，以选择一个合适的钻探位置。区域遥感研究[3]表明，河流活动的几个阶段对着陆点产生了影响。这包括“最近”（~3.5 Ga）洪水沉积，与沉积扇相关的山谷网络和可能以倒置地形表示的更古老的河流系统（例如，[4]）。Oxia Planum河流活动的时间和规模可能会导致地下水波动，这可能对沉积物中生物特征的保存产生重大影响-Rosalind富兰克林的主要目标。该项目的目的是探索区域河流过程对ExoMars着陆点的影响，并分析ExoMars漫游车使命上的“PanCam”仪器返回的现场数据，支持轨道分析。

The ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Rover mission [1] will launch in mid-2022, and land in the Oxia Planum [2] region of Mars in June 2023. The goal of Rosalind Franklin is to identify evidence of ancient life in the near shallow subsurface. To complete this goal, Rosalind Franklin will use its PanCam instrument, in concert with orbital remote sensing studies, to explore the geological context of the landing site to select a suitable drilling location.Regional remote sensing studies [3] show that several phases of fluvial activity have influence the landing site. This includes 'recent' (~3.5 Ga) flood deposits, valley networks associated with the sediment fan and more ancient fluvial systems possibly expressed in inverted relief (e.g., [4]). The timing and magnitude of this fluvial activity in Oxia Planum could have driven groundwater fluctuations that may have had a significant impact on preservation of biosignatures in sedimentary materials - key targets for Rosalind Franklin.The aim of this project is to explore the influence of regional fluvial process on the ExoMars landing site and to analyse in situ data returned by the 'PanCam' instrument on the ExoMars rover mission to support orbital analysis.