火星的地质演化和宜居环境研究进展

Geological evolution and habitable environment of Mars:Progress and prospects

作为太阳系中与地球最为相似的行星,火星因其表面丰富的古代水活动历史和可能保存的古生命迹象,从而成为太阳系深空探测的主要目标之一.火星和地球的早期演化过程相似,但目前尚未在火星上发现生命迹象.火星的地质特征和宜居环境演化历史等问题存在大量假说亟待检验和甄别.本文总结了火星各个地质年代的基本特征,介绍了火星上不同的地质特征和对气候条件的响应,梳理了火星上的水活动历史所记录的火星宜居环境的变迁,也总结了火星表面水成矿物的分布、含量和形成环境,以及水成地貌特征和环境演化历史,并讨论了早期火星气候存在的争议问题.最后,对火星未来的探测方向给出了展望.

Mars is the most similar planet to the Earth in the solar system.Due to its diverse aqueous history and the capability to preserve ancient life,Mars has been one of the major planets explored by deep space missions.Mars and the Earth share similar evolution history in their early stage,however,life has not been found on Mars.There are many unanswered questions on the history of its geological evolution and the early habitable environ-ment,and a lot of hypotheses exist that are to be tested.In this study,we summarize the common geological charac-teristics of Mars and the corresponding climate conditions.We introduce the composition,the distribution and the formation environment of hydrated minerals on Mars,as well as the geomorphologic characteristics related to wa-ter activity,and discuss the paradox of the environment of early Mars.Finally,we provide suggestion on the future direction of the exploration.