| タイトル | Methane on Mars: Thermodynamic Equilibrium and Photochemical Calculations |
| 本文（外部サイト） | http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20100019308 |
| 著者（英） | Levine, J. S.; Summers, M. E.; Ewell, M. |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Langley Research Center |
| 発行日 | 2010-04-26 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | The detection of methane (CH4) in the atmosphere of Mars by Mars Express and Earth-based spectroscopy is very surprising, very puzzling, and very intriguing. On Earth, about 90% of atmospheric ozone is produced by living systems. A major question concerning methane on Mars is its origin - biological or geological. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations indicated that methane cannot be produced by atmospheric chemical/photochemical reactions. Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations for three gases, methane, ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) in the Earth s atmosphere are summarized in Table 1. The calculations indicate that these three gases should not exist in the Earth s atmosphere. Yet they do, with methane, ammonia and nitrous oxide enhanced 139, 50 and 12 orders of magnitude above their calculated thermodynamic equilibrium concentration due to the impact of life! Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations have been performed for the same three gases in the atmosphere of Mars based on the assumed composition of the Mars atmosphere shown in Table 2. The calculated thermodynamic equilibrium concentrations of the same three gases in the atmosphere of Mars is shown in Table 3. Clearly, based on thermodynamic equilibrium calculations, methane should not be present in the atmosphere of Mars, but it is in concentrations approaching 30 ppbv from three distinct regions on Mars. |
| NASA分類 | Geosciences (General) |
| レポートNO | NF1676L-9951 |
| 権利 | Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
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