Nitrogen Fixation in Volcanic Plumes on Early Mars

Details Nitrogen Fixation in Volcanic Plumes on Early Mars Nitrogen Fixation in Volcanic Plumes on Early Mars

May 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm...p22b04s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #P22B-04

Other

3324 Lightning, 5480 Volcanism (8450), 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

The possibility of life's origin during a water-rich Mars has been addressed by many authors. Nitrogen is one of the primordial elements for life, but nitrogen in nature is present as N2, an inert gas under normal atmospheric conditions. Volcanic lightning has been previosly shown to be an efficient energy source for nitrogen fixation in neutral atmospheres (Navarro-González et al., 1998). We now explore its role in more reducing conditions, as those thought to have occurred on early Mars. A possible volcanic Martian mixture is exposed to lightning discharges by focusing a high-energy infrared laser. The laser generates a hot and dense plasma similar to that formed by the return stroke which forms the lightning channel. The products were analyzed by gas chromatography, an infrared detector and a quadrupole mass spectrometer. HCN, a key molecule for prebiotic chemistry, was detected in the products. The amount of energy available in volcanic lightning is calculated to be ~ 8 x 1017 that may produce about 1010 gr yr-1 of HCN. Other endogenous and exogenous sources of reactive nitrogen on early Mars are calculated. Those calculations indicate that volcanic lightning may be an important source of fixed nitrogen on early Mars. Navarro-González et al. Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 3123 (1998).

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