Orbiter and rover data have revealed a complex and intermittent hydrological history in Gale Crater on Mars, where habitable environments appear to have endured for at least thousands of years. The intermittency may be the result of a dominantly cold climate punctuated by geologically brief periods of warmth and active hydrology. However, the time required to establish an integrated hydrological cycle in a warming climate is difficult to ascertain and has not been thoroughly investigated. Here we model the transient evolution of groundwater flow and subsurface temperature, the slowest evolving components of the hydrological cycle, during a warm departure from cold conditions. We find that tens of thousands of years are likely required before groundwater could be a meaningful source for large lakes in Gale. With highly favorable conditions, primarily high permeability, significant flow might develop in thousands of years. This implies that surface water dominates during the beginning of a warm phase. Annual mean surface temperatures in Gale below 290 K would likely leave the nearby highlands frozen at the surface. In that case, deep aquifers beneath a highlands permafrost layer could deliver water to Gale, where low temperatures would have reduced evaporation.

中文翻译：

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在异常温暖的气候中，地下水流入大风火山口

轨道器和漫游者的数据揭示了火星大风火山口的复杂而断断续续的水文历史，这里可居住的环境似乎已经存在了至少数千年。间歇性可能是由于地质上短暂的温暖期和活跃的水文学使气候偏冷所致。但是，在变暖的气候中建立综合水文循环所需的时间难以确定，并且尚未进行彻底调查。在这里，我们模拟了在温暖地离开寒冷条件下，地下水流量和地下温度（水文循环中发展最慢的部分）的瞬态演变过程。我们发现，地下水可能成为大风中大型湖泊的重要水源，可能需要数万年的时间。在高度有利的条件下，主要是高渗透率，数千年后可能会形成大量流动。这意味着在暖期开始时，地表水占主导地位。大风的年平均地表温度低于290 K，可能会使附近的高地冻结在地表。在这种情况下，高地永久冻土层下面的深层含水层可以将水输送到大风，那里的低温会减少蒸发。