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Nili Fossae is a group of large, concentric grabens on Mars, located in the Syrtis Major quadrangle. They have been eroded and partly filled in by sediments and clay-rich ejecta from a nearby giant impact crater, the Isidis basin.〔Grotzinger, J. and R. Milliken. 2012. Sedimentary Geology of Mars. SEPM.〕 It is located at approximately 22°N, 75°E, and has an elevation of . Nili Fossae was on the list of potential landing sites of the Mars Science Laboratory, arriving in 2012, but was dropped before the final four sites were determined. In September 2015, it was selected as a potential landing site for the ''Mars 2020'' rover, which will use the same design as ''Curiosity'', but with a different payload focused on astrobiology. A large exposure of olivine is located in Nili Fossae.〔Hoefen, T.M., et al. 2003. Discovery of Olivine in the Nili Fossae Region of Mars. Science 302, 627-630. "http://www.sciencemag.org/content/302/5645/627"〕 In December 2008, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found that rocks at Nili Fossae contain carbonate minerals, a geologically significant discovery.〔(Nasa finds 'missing' Mars mineral )〕 〔http://www.space.com/30746-mars-missing-atmosphere-lost-in-space.html?cmpid=NL_SP_weekly_2015-10-06〕 〔Edwards, C., B. Ehlmann. 2015. Carbon sequestration on Mars. Geology: doi: 10.1130/G36983.1.〕 Other minerals found by MRO are aluminum smectite, iron/magnesium smecite, hydrated silica, kaolinite group minerals, and iron oxides.〔Murchie, S. et al. 2009. A synthesis of Martian aqueous mineralogy after 1 Mars year of observations from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Journal of Geophysical Research: 114. E00D06.〕 NASA scientists discovered that Nili Fossae is the source of plumes of methane, raising the question of whether this source originates from biological sources.〔(Mars Methane Found, Raising Possibility of Life )〕〔(New light on Mars methane mystery )〕 Researchers in July 2010 suggested that carbonate bearing rocks found in the Nili Fossae region of Mars are made up of hydrothermally altered ultramafic rocks. Consequently, hydrothermal activity would have provided sufficient energy for biological activity. Evidence of living organisms could have been preserved.〔Adrian J. Brown, Simon J. Hook, Alice M. Baldridge, James K. Crowley, Nathan T. Bridges, Bradley J. Thomson, Giles M. Marion, Carlos R. de Souza Filho, Janice L. Bishop. 2010. Hydrothermal formation of Clay-Carbonate alteration assemblages in the Nili Fossae region of Mars. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2010; 〕 Possible evidence of 'buried life' was recently found at Nili Fassae.〔(Buried life on Nili Fossae )〕 Nili Fossae trough is thought to have resulted from the impact that formed the nearby Isidis basin.〔(Potential Mars Science Laboratory Landing Site: Nili Fossae Trough )〕〔Craddock, R. 1994. ''(Geological history of Isidis Planitia and Syrtis Major Planum, Mars )''. Houston, Texas, LPS XXV. 291-292〕 == References == 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nili Fossae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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