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St Oswald's Bay on England's southern coast may not look much like Mars today
英格兰南部海岸的圣奥斯瓦尔德湾看起来不太像今天的火星，
but Imperial College London geochemist Mark Sephton says minerals in these streams may provide an unexpected window into Martian history.
但帝国理工学院地球化学家马克·塞弗顿表示，溪流中的矿物质或许能帮助我们了解火星历史。
Those minerals are actually picking up the molecular markers of life for the organisms that surround them.
这些矿物质实际上是它们周围生物体的分子标记，表示存在生命迹象。
And what's really exciting is that these minerals are very similar to minerals we expect to find on Mars
真正令人兴奋的是，这些矿物质与我们期望在火星上发现的矿物质非常相似，
and previously we just wouldn't have looked at those minerals.
之前我们没注意到这些矿物质。
These streams are acidic and high in sulfur like experts say Mars was 3.5 to 4 billion years ago.
这些溪流酸性很高，硫磺含量也很高，专家们认为，这和火星在三十五亿至四十亿年前的环境非常相似。
Scientists did not think the Red Planet's iron-rich rocks would be good at preserving traces of life if it existed then.
科学家们之前认为，如果火星上真的存在过生命，那么它的富铁矿石并不能很好地保存生命痕迹。
But Sephton's graduate student Jonathan Tan found one mineral in those English streams that does.
但塞弗顿的研究生乔纳森·谭在那些溪流中发现了一种矿物质，能够保存生命痕迹。
What we found is that goethite which is that iron oxyhydroxide is especially good for preserving these organic materials
通过研究，我们发现了针铁矿也就是羟基氧化铁，特别有利于保存有机物质，
that we find in this, in the organism that live in these sulfur streams.
这些有机物质存在于强酸性溪流中。
And he says what happens in St Oswald's Bay may have happened on Mars.
他认为圣奥斯瓦尔德湾发生的事情可能也同样发生在火星。
The group published their discovery in the journal Scientific Reports.
该团队在《科学报告》期刊上发表了他们的发现。
Sephton says it can help the next mission to Mars know where to look for signs of life.
塞弗顿称它会对接下来的火星探索提供帮助，知道在哪里寻找生命迹象。
Theses missions are very expensive and so by studying these rocks on earth,
火星探索计划成本高昂，所以通过研究地球上的这些岩石，
we can narrow down our opportunities on Mars and increase the chances of success
我们可以缩小在火星寻找生命的机会，增加成功几率，
that is the chances of successful life detection if it ever existed on Mars in the past.
如果火星上真的存在过生命，探测到生命的几率就会增加。
The next chance maybe the European Space Agency's upcoming ExoMars mission set to launch in 2020.
欧航局即将发射的ExoMars探测器或将提供这次机会，ExoMars将于2020年发射。
Steve Baragona, VOA news.
VOA新闻，史蒂夫·巴拉贡为您播报。
