Projektbeschreibung
Studie zur Beschaffung neuer Hinweise zur Wasserzusammensetzung auf dem frühen Mars
Die geomorphologischen und mineralogischen Aufzeichnungen liefern zahlreiche Indizien für große stehende flüssige Wassermassen und weitläufige von Gletschern bedeckte Gebiete auf dem frühen Mars. Trotz dieser Hinweise sind mehrere Fragen zu den physikochemischen Eigenschaften des Wassers auf dem Mars nach wie vor ungeklärt. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt MarsFirstWater bedient sich einer Kombination verschiedener Datensätze aus Raumfahrtmissionen, Laborexperimenten, Computersimulationen und Feldarbeit in ähnlichen Umgebungen auf der Erde, um ein quantitatives Verständnis der grundlegenden Eigenschaften des Wassers auf dem frühen Mars zu erlangen. Das Projekt verbindet paläogeomorphologische Rekonstruktionen und geochemische Modelle mit mineralogischen und astrobiologischen Studien, um die physikalische Evolution, chemischen Veränderungen und die Bewohnbarkeit an und nahe der Oberfläche der wässrigen Umgebungen auf dem Mars eng abzustecken.
Ziel
Concepts of large bodies of glacial ice and liquid standing water, a robust hydrological cycle, and a rich Martian history of climate change are part of the current consensus model for early Mars. However, questions still poorly constrained include: a precise understanding of the inventory of water during the first billion years of Mars history and its early evolution on both global and local scales; whether liquid or solid H2O dominated, for what duration of time and where the water resided; what were the host-rock weathering rates and patterns and the physicochemical parameters defining such interactions; what specific landforms and mineralogies were generated during those periods; and what implications all these processes had on the possible inception of life on Mars. These fundamental questions represent large uncertainties and knowledge gaps. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of the basic characteristics of water on early Mars is very much needed and is the focus of this proposal.
This application outlines a plan for my research in the next five years, and explains how I propose to fully characterize the aqueous environments of early Mars through a quantitative and truly interdisciplinary investigation. Spacecraft mission-derived datasets will be consistently used to test hypotheses through paleogeomorphological reconstructions, geochemical modeling, mineralogical studies, and astrobiological investigations. The derived results will produce hard constraints on the physical evolution, chemical alteration and habitability of surface and near-surface aqueous environments on early Mars. The planned investigations will benefit from the combination of working with first-hand data from ongoing Mars missions and with the state-of-the-art laboratory tools at the host institution. The final expected result will be a complete understanding of the physicochemical nature of water on early Mars, also opening new paths for the astrobiological exploration of the planet.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringvehicle engineeringaerospace engineeringastronautical engineeringspacecraft
- humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistory
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanets
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeologymineralogy
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantGastgebende Einrichtung
28006 Madrid
Spanien