火星南极的冰覆层.docVIP

火星南极的冰覆层（图）?? 2008-01-28 09:33:45|??分类： 系内星闻 |??标签： |字号大中小?订阅 ? Vast ice deposits at Mars south pole ???????????????????????????????????????? By Will Dunham ?胡德良 译 ?A spacecraft orbiting Mars has scanned huge deposits of water ice at its south pole so plentiful they would blanket the planet in 11 metres of water if they were liquid, scientists say. ?科学家们说一艘绕火星飞行的太空船发现：火星的南极覆盖着大片的冰层，蓄水量非常丰富，假如呈液态，整个火星将会被11米深的水所覆盖。 ?They used a joint NASA-Italian Space Agency radar instrument on the European Space Agency Mars Express spacecraft to gauge the thickness and volume of ice deposits at the Martian south pole. The deposits, up to 3.7 kilometres thick, are under a polar cap of white frozen carbon dioxide and water, and appear to be composed of at least 90% frozen water, with dust mixed in, according to findings published in the journal Science. ?科学家们利用欧洲航天局“火星快车”号太空船上的雷达装置测量出火星南极冰层的厚度和体积。该雷达装置是美国国家航空航天局和意大利航天局联合制造的。根据发表《科学》杂志上的数据，在冻结的白色二氧化碳和水构成的极冠下，覆盖着厚达3.7公里的冰层，好象至少90%是由固态水构成，其中还混杂着尘埃。 ?Scientists have known that water exists in frozen form at the Martian poles, but this research produced the most accurate measurements of just how much there is.They are eager to learn about the history of water on Mars because water is fundamental to the question of whether the planet has ever harboured microbial or some other life. ?科学家们已经了解到水以固态的形式存在于火星的两极，而这项研究最准确地测量出到底有多少水。科学家们渴望了解火星水的历史，因为水是最根本的，决定了该行星上是否曾经生活着微生物或其他形态的生命。 ?Characteristics like channels on the Martian surface strongly suggest the planet once was very wet, a contrast to its present arid, dusty condition. ?火星表面的沟槽特征有力地说明了该行星一度非常湿润，与目前干旱的、布满尘埃的状况截然不同。 ?Dr Jeffrey Plaut of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, who led the study, says the same techniques are being used to examine similar ice deposits at the Martian north pole. ?美国国家航空航天局喷气动力实验室的杰弗里·普劳特博士主持了该项研究。他说，同样的技术正在用于测定火星北极类似的冰层。 ?Radar observations made in late 2005 and early 2006 provided the data on the south pole, and similar observations we