纪录片《火星任务》 第30期 汪洋大海（在线收听）

Mount Sharp is a Martian mountain,

夏普山是火星上的一座山

rising 18,000 feet above the centre of the massive Gale Crater.

在巨大的盖尔撞击坑中心 高达5500米

The scientists believe their Rover could find carbonates here,

科学家们认为火星车能在这里找到碳酸岩

proving this Martian crater was also filled with water

证明这个撞击坑在遥远的过去

in its ancient past.

也曾是一片汪洋大海

But that's not the only similarity that Mount Sharp has

但这并不是夏普山仅有的

with the mountains here in the Mojave Desert.

与莫哈韦沙漠群山相似的地方

In both places,

在这两个地方

the team can use the rock itself

科学家团队都能利用岩石本身

to travel back in time to any moment in the geological past.

分析出过去任何时候的地质状况

The mountains are formed of layers,

群山是由多个岩层

built up gradually over millennia.

百万年以来逐渐堆积而成

Testing each one will reveal what the environment was like there

对地层进行检测就能知道

at the particular moment in time it was laid down.

这一地层形成时的环境状况

What we see here is a stack of layers

我们看到的这些岩层

that tell us about the early environmental history of the Earth,

向我们揭晓了地球早期

representing hundreds of millions of years.

几亿年间的环境变迁史