Hundreds of ancient lake basins detected on Mars via orbital remote sensing represent rare oases of hydrosphere–atmosphere–lithosphere interactions with great astrobiological potential. These palaeolake basins, and associated lacustrine deposits, could preserve evidence of biogenesis on Mars, and their geology, mineralogy and geochemistry place strong constraints on past climate. Most Martian palaeolakes date to the Noachian (>3.7 Gyr ago (Ga)) and probably lasted ~10²–10⁶ years, representing only a small fraction of the ~400 Myr of Noachian time. However, some palaeolakes occurred during the Hesperian (3–3.7 Ga), and it is likely that many shallow thermokarst lakes occurred in the Amazonian (<3 Ga) but left few traces. Noachian lacustrine deposits contain detrital Fe/Mg-rich clay minerals as well as authigenic Fe/Mg carbonates, sulfates, silica, chlorides and clay minerals that potentially preserve the characteristics of the ancient atmosphere and climate. While Martian palaeolakes are undeniably among the top targets for future surface exploration and sample return, many questions surrounding prospects for biogenesis and biological productivity in short-lived lakes and transient warm climates on an otherwise cold planet remain. Martian lakes also provide tremendous comparative value for reconstructing the geology and geobiology of inland waters on the Archaean Earth.

通过轨道遥感在火星上探测到的数百个古老湖盆代表了具有巨大天体生物学潜力的水圈-大气-岩石圈相互作用的稀有绿洲。这些古湖盆地和相关的湖泊沉积物可以保存火星生物成因的证据，它们的地质学、矿物学和地球化学对过去的气候有很大的限制。大多数火星古湖可追溯到 Noachian (>3.7 Gyr ago (Ga)) 并且可能持续了 ~10 ² –10 ⁶ 年，仅占诺亚时代约 400 迈尔的一小部分。然而，一些古湖出现在 Hesperian（3-3.7 Ga）期间，亚马逊河（<3 Ga）可能出现了许多浅层热岩溶湖，但留下的痕迹很少。诺亚湖沉积物含有富含铁/镁的碎屑粘土矿物以及自生铁/镁碳酸盐、硫酸盐、二氧化硅、氯化物和粘土矿物，这些矿物可能保留了古代大气和气候的特征。虽然不可否认，火星古湖是未来地表勘探和样品返回的首要目标之一，但围绕在一个寒冷星球上的短命湖泊和短暂温暖气候中的生物发生和生物生产力前景的许多问题仍然存在。