The planet's stationary crust and lower surface  gravity meant volcanoes could build themselves up  

這個星球的地殼是靜止的，表面重力較低，這意味著火山可以自己建立起來。

to staggering heights, like Olympus Mons which  stands nearly three times higher than Mount Everest.

驚人的高度，如奧林匹斯山，它比珠穆朗瑪峰高出近三倍。

Smaller eruptions continued in some isolated  

在一些孤立的地方，較小的噴發繼續存在。

pockets as recently as 3 million years ago, but  today the planet seems a much quieter place.  

最近在300萬年前就有了口袋，但今天這個星球似乎是一個更安靜的地方。

At least that's what we thought, until scientists  discovered volcanic activity that looks like it  

至少我們是這樣認為的，直到科學家們發現了看起來像的火山活動。

happened in the relatively recent past, and  their findings could have major implications  

發生在相對較近的過去，他們的發現可能有重大影響

for the search for life on the red planet. Planetary scientists were examining a pair of  

為尋找紅色星球上的生命。行星科學家們正在檢查一對

fissures known as Cerberus Fossae that stretch  for nearly 1000 kilometers across a volcanic  

被稱為 "Cerberus Fossae "的裂縫在火山口上延伸了近1000公里。

plain in a region known as Elysium Planitia. They're thought to be a relatively young  

在一個被稱為Elysium Planitia的地區的平原。他們被認為是一個相對年輕的

geological feature since in some places the walls  are almost vertical, an indication that erosion  

牆體的地質特徵，因為有些地方的牆體幾乎是垂直的，這表明侵蝕作用的存在

hasn't had time to wear them down to a shallower  angle. Indeed the whole volcanic plain appears  

還沒有時間把它們磨損到一個較淺的角度。事實上，整個火山平原似乎

fairly new, considering the low number of impact  craters compared to other regions of the planet. 

考慮到與地球上的其他地區相比，撞擊坑的數量較少，所以相當新。

A rough estimate puts its age anywhere between  2.5 million and 500 thousand years old.  

粗略估計，其年齡在250萬至50萬年之間。

But on closer inspection, one stretch of the  region that's just a few tens of kilometers  

但仔細觀察，該地區有一段只有幾十公里的距離

long known as the Cerberus Fossae mantling unit  seems to indicate much more recent activity.

長久以來被稱為Cerberus Fossae的鑲邊單元似乎表明了更近的活動。

Using visible light and infrared images from NASA's  Mars Reconnaissance and Mars Odyssey Orbiters,  

利用美國宇航局的火星偵察和火星奧德賽軌道器的可見光和紅外影像。

the researchers spotted a mysterious dark spot  similar to ones on Mercury or the moon. Dark spots  

研究人員發現了一個類似於水星或月球上的神祕黑點。黑點

like this hint at explosive volcanic activity. The deposit of ash and rock sits on solidified  

像這樣，暗示著爆炸性的火山活動。火山灰和岩石的沉積物坐落在凝固的

lava flows, meaning it's from a different time  period than the other volcanic activity. In fact  

熔岩流，意味著它來自與其他火山活動不同的時間段。事實上

it may have happened very recently, judging by  how few impact craters there are in the area. 

從該地區很少的撞擊坑來看，它可能是最近發生的。

How recently?  

最近如何？

This eruption could have  happened within the last 200,000 years, 

這次噴發可能發生在過去20萬年內。

and perhaps even just 50,000 years ago. Sure, on a human scale that's a long time,  

甚至可能只是5萬年前。當然，從人類的角度來看，這是一個很長的時間。

but geologically speaking  that's practically yesterday. 

但從地質學上講，這幾乎是昨天的事了。

One of the scientists behind the research  said that if the entire history of Mars  

該研究背後的一位科學家說，如果火星的整個歷史

were compressed to a single day, this eruption  would have happened one second before midnight. 

如果壓縮到一天，這次噴發將發生在午夜前一秒。

This opens up the possibility that maybe  Mars isn't quite as dead as it seems,  

這開啟了一種可能性，也許火星並不像它看起來那樣死氣沉沉。

in a few different ways.  

以幾種不同的方式。

Maybe there's still magma under the surface, and  all it needs is the right conditions to come out. 

也許地表下仍有岩漿，它所需要的只是合適的條件來出來。

One researcher pointed to an  impact crater just 10 kilometers  

一位研究人員指出，一個只有10公里的撞擊坑

from this newly discovered volcanic feature that  appears to be from about the same time period.  

從這個新發現的火山特徵來看，似乎是在同一時期。

He speculated the impact may have been the  trigger, though acknowledged it's a longshot.

他推測撞擊可能是導火索，不過他承認這是不可能的。

It's also possible that magma could have come  into contact with ice under Mars' surface  

也有可能是岩漿與火星表面下的冰接觸了

and the expanding water vapor led to an  eruption.   

而膨脹的水蒸氣導致了噴發。

Heat from subsurface magma and

來自地表下岩漿的熱量和

that icy substrate could also create conditions  capable of sustaining microbial life in the  

冰冷的基質也可能創造出能夠維持微生物生命的條件。

recent past, or perhaps even to this day. But it's not all great news for the search  

最近，甚至可能到今天為止。但這並不全是搜索的好消息

for extraterrestrial life: scientists have  long thought methane in Mars' atmosphere was  

導致地外生命出現的原因：科學家們長期以來一直認為火星大氣中的甲烷是

a potential biomarker. But volcanoes can also emit  methane, so if Mars is still volcanically active,  

一個潛在的生物標誌物。但是火山也可以排放甲烷，所以如果火星仍有火山活動。

that might be a comparatively anticlimactic  explanation for the methane instead. 

這可能是對甲烷的一個相對反常的解釋。

Researchers made this discovery by studying  the planet from orbit, but other probes could  

研究人員通過從軌道上研究這顆行星獲得了這一發現，但其他探測器可以

expand their knowledge. As it happens NASA's  InSight lander is in Elysium Planitia, and  

擴大他們的知識。正好美國宇航局的InSight登陸器在Elysium Planitia，並且

the seismometer on board has thus far detected two  Marsquakes coming from Cerberus Fossae which could  

到目前為止，船上的地震儀已經探測到了來自地獄之神化石的兩次火星地震，這可能是一個很好的例子。

be due to moving magma. Unfortunately, one InSight  instrument that would have been really useful for  

是由於移動的岩漿。不幸的是，InSight的一個儀器本來可以在以下方面發揮真正的作用

just this situation, a heat probe known as the  mole, wasn't able to bury itself deep enough in  

就在這種情況下，一個被稱為 "鼴鼠 "的熱探針無法將自己埋得足夠深。

the Martian regolith and after almost two years  of troubleshooting, NASA gave up on the mole in  

經過近兩年的故障排除，美國宇航局放棄了對火星岩石中的鼴鼠的研究。

January 2021. Perhaps a future mission with an  improved mole will reveal more about how heat  

2021年1月。也許未來的任務與改進後的鼴鼠將揭示更多關於熱量如何

moves inside the red planet, or maybe we'll get  lucky and something will set off another eruption.  

在紅色星球內部移動，或者也許我們會很幸運，有東西會引發另一次噴發。

I just hope it happens soon, and by that I mean  within my lifetime and not 50,000 years from now. 

我只希望它儘快發生，我指的是在我的有生之年，而不是5萬年後。

If you want to learn more about why the InSight  lander's mole couldn't dent Mars's surface by  

如果你想了解更多關於InSight登陸器的鼴鼠為什麼不能在火星表面凹陷的原因，可以通過

why the mission is still awesome  anyway, check out my video on it here. 

為什麼這項任務無論如何仍是令人敬畏的，請看我在這裡的視頻。

With the mixed news about what a volcanically  active Mars could mean for the search for  

關於火山活躍的火星可能意味著什麼的喜憂參半的消息對尋找

extraterrestrial life, are you more or  less optimistic we'll find it on Mars?  

地外生命，你對我們在火星上找到它是比較樂觀還是不樂觀？

Let us know in the comments, don't forget to  subscribe, and I'll see you soon on Seeker.

請在評論中告訴我們，別忘了訂閱，我們很快就會在Seeker上見到你。