| タイトル | Martian Atmospheric Methane Plumes from Meteor Shower Infall: A Hypothesis |
| 本文（外部サイト） | http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20160009077 |
| 著者（英） | Conrad, P.; Christou, A.; Matney, M.; Fries, M.; Eigenbrode, J.; Cooke, W.; Niles, P.; ten Kate, I. L.; Archer, D.; Sykes, M. |
| 発行日 | 2016-09-05 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | Methane plumes in the martian atmosphere have been detected using Earth-based spectroscopy, the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer on the ESA Mars Express mission, and the NASA Mars Science Laboratory. The methane's origin remains a mystery, with proposed sources including volcanism, exogenous sources like impacts and interplanetary dust, aqueous alteration of olivine in the presence of carbonaceous material, release from ancient deposits of methane clathrates, and/or biological activity. To date, none of these phenomena have been found to reliably correlate with the detection of methane plumes. An additional source exists, however: meteor showers could generate martian methane via UV pyrolysis of carbon-rich infall material. We find a correlation between the dates of Mars/cometary orbit encounters and detections of methane on Mars. We hypothesize that cometary debris falls onto Mars during these interactions, depositing freshly disaggregated meteor shower material in a regional concentration. The material generates methane via UV photolysis, resulting in a localized "plume" of short-lived methane. |
| NASA分類 | Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration |
| レポートNO | JSC-CN-36723 |
| 権利 | Copyright, Distribution as joint owner in the copyright |
|
