A Sensitive Search for SO2 in the Martian Atmosphere: Implications for Seepage and Origin of Methane

Details A Sensitive Search for SO2 in the Martian Atmosphere: Implications for Seepage and Origin of Methane A Sensitive Search for SO2 in the Martian Atmosphere: Implications for Seepage and Origin of Methane

May 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agusm.p23a..05k&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #P23A-05

Physics

5405 Atmospheres: Composition And Chemistry, 5415 Erosion And Weathering, 5480 Volcanism (8450), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

We observed Mars near the peak of the strongest SO2 band at 1364-1373 cm-1 with resolving power of 7×104 using the Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. The spectrum shows absorption lines of three CO2 isotopomers and three H2O isotopomers. The water vapor abundance derived from the HDO lines assuming D/H = 5.5 times the terrestrial value is 13±1.0 pr. μm, in agreement with the simultaneous MGS/TES observations of 14 pr. μm at the latitudes (50°S to 10°N) of our observation. Summing of spectral intervals at the expected positions of eleven SO2 lines puts a 2σ upper limit on SO2 of 0.8 ppb. SO2 may be emitted into the martian atmosphere by seepage and is removed by three-body reactions with OH and O. The SO2 lifetime, 2 years, is longer than the global mixing time 0.5 year, so SO2 should be rather uniformly distributed across Mars. Seepage of SO2 is less than 14,000 tons per year on Mars which is smaller than the volcanic production of SO2 on the Earth by a factor of 700. CH4/SO2 is typically 10-4 - 10-3 in volcanic gases on the Earth, and this does not support seepage as a possible source of the recently discovered methane on Mars and makes even more plausible its biogenic origin. Possible productions of ethane and propane are weaker than that of methane, and these gases should be additionally depleted photochemically by factors of 25 and 250 relative to methane on Mars.

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