When Opportunity touched down on a part of Mars called Meridiani Planum, it came across geology that looked tantalizingly like the product of standing water. 当机遇在火星的一个叫子午线平面上降落的时候,它偶然发现地质学上看起来像是水的产物让人很着急。
Through a telescope, Meridiani Planum is a striking, dark feature, close to the martian equator. 通过望远镜,子午线平原的一个鲜明的,黑暗的特点,接近火星赤道。
Despite being separated by thousands of kilometers, Martian soils from Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum have proved broadly similar in parts& rich in chlorine and sulfur. 尽管古塞夫环形山和子午线平原相距数千公里,但业已证实:来自两地的火星土壤有些成分极其相似&均富含氯和硫磺。
Exactly three weeks later, a similar exploration rover named "Opportunity" landed almost half-way around the planet in an area called Meridiani Planum. 三周后一艘名叫“机会号”的同型探测车降落在行星的另一面叫子午线平原的区域。
The vast, flat plain of Meridiani has also revealed characteristic patterns associated with waves in a shallow body of water. 辽阔平坦的梅里蒂亚尼平原同样也显露出与浅水处波浪相关的特有图案。
Deposits of volcanic ash colour this view of the Meridiani Planum, as seen by the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera. 颜色的火山灰沉积这个子午线平原认为,正如火星快车高分辨率立体照相机看到。
Even at Meridiani, basaltic sands lie atop the lake sediments, indicating that the site has been parched for two billion to three billion years. 甚至在子午线地盘,玄武岩质的沙披覆在湖床沉积物上,显示此地已经乾涸了20~0亿年。