A sink for methane on Mars? The answer is blowing in the wind
Abstract
Tumbling experiments that mimic the wind erosion of quartz grains in an atmosphere of 13C-enriched methane are reported. The eroded grains are analyzed by 13C and 29Si solid-state NMR techniques after several months of tumbling. The analysis shows that methane has reacted with the eroded surface to form covalent Si-CH3 bonds, which stay intact for temperatures up to at least 250 °C. The NMR findings offer an explanation for the fast disappearance of methane on Mars.
- Publication:
-
Icarus
- Pub Date:
- July 2014
- DOI:
- 10.1016/j.icarus.2014.03.036
- Bibcode:
- 2014Icar..236...24K