Liu Yang, Wu Xing, Zhao Yu-Yan Sara, Pan Lu, Wang Chi, Liu Jia, Zhao Zhenxing, Zhou Xiang, Zhang Chaolin, Wu Yuchun, Wan Wenhui, Zou Yongliao
State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 200083, China.
Sci Adv. 2022 May 13;8(19):eabn8555. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8555. Epub 2022 May 11.
The Mars' climate is cold and dry in the most recent epoch, and liquid water activities are considered extremely limited. Previous orbital data only show sporadic hydrous minerals in the northern lowlands of Mars excavated by large impacts. Using the short-wave infrared spectral data obtained by the Zhurong rover of China's Tianwen-1 mission, which landed in southern Utopia Planitia on Mars, we identify hydrated sulfate/silica materials on the Amazonian terrain at the landing site. These hydrated minerals are associated with bright-toned rocks, interpreted to be duricrust developed locally. The lithified duricrusts suggest that formation with substantial liquid water originates by either groundwater rising or subsurface ice melting. In situ evidence for aqueous activities identified at Zhurong's landing site indicates a more active Amazonian hydrosphere for Mars than previously thought.
在最近的时期，火星的气候寒冷干燥，液态水活动被认为极其有限。先前的轨道数据仅显示火星北部低地因大型撞击而暴露的零星含水矿物。利用中国天问一号任务的祝融号火星车获得的短波红外光谱数据（祝融号在火星的乌托邦平原南部着陆），我们在着陆点的亚马逊纪地形中识别出了水合硫酸盐/二氧化硅物质。这些水合矿物与亮色岩石有关，被解释为局部形成的硬壳。石化的硬壳表明，大量液态水的形成源于地下水上升或地下冰融化。在祝融号着陆点发现的水活动的现场证据表明，火星的亚马逊纪水圈比之前认为的更加活跃。
