Description du projet
Une étude entend fournir de nouveaux éléments sur la composition de l’eau sur la jeune planète Mars
Les preuves de la présence de vastes étendues d’eau liquide sur la planète Mars primitive abondent dans les archives géomorphologiques et minéralogiques, et de nombreuses grandes étendues semblent avoir accueilli des glaciers. Malgré ces indices, plusieurs questions concernant les propriétés physico-chimiques de l’eau sur Mars restent sans réponse. Le projet MarsFirstWater, financé par l’UE, utilise une combinaison d’ensembles de données provenant de missions spatiales, d’expériences en laboratoire, de simulations informatiques et de travaux de terrain sur des analogues terrestres afin d’acquérir une compréhension quantitative des caractéristiques de base de l’eau sur la jeune planète Mars. Le projet combine des reconstitutions paléogéomorphologiques et des modèles géochimiques ainsi que des études minéralogiques et astrobiologiques afin d’imposer des contraintes strictes sur l’évolution physique, l’altération chimique et l’habitabilité de la surface et des environnements aqueux martiens proches de la surface.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- 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
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantInstitution d’accueil
28006 Madrid
Espagne