Radiation Chemical Weathering of Water-Rich Surfaces

Physics

Scientific paper

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5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6020 Ice, 6045 Physics And Chemistry Of Materials, 6210 Comets, 6218 Jovian Satellites

Scientific paper

Water ice is known to exist on nineteen different moons of the four giant planets, and also on Pluto's moon, the rings of Saturn, trans-Neptunian objects, and comets. Other condensed volatiles have also been detected on many of these objects. These solar system ices exist in a variety of radiation environments that can include magnetospheric ions and cosmic rays. To study the radiation chemical weathering of water-rich ices, we record changes in the mid-IR spectra of low-temperature thin ice films during ion bombardment. We have completed a variety of MeV proton irradiation experiments on both pure H2O and H2O-dominated ices containing CO2, CO, CH4, and NH3. This talk will focus on the radiation chemical processes that lead to the formation of H2O2 (a detected radiation product on Europa, (Carlson et al. 1999)) and carbonic acid, H2CO3 (a candidate whose IR spectrum is similar to observed features on Callisto, (Carlson, 2001)). We will identify other radiation products that are most likely to be observed from mixtures such as H2O + CH4, H2O + CO, H2O + NH3. The role of CO2 in the formation of O2 will also be discussed. This research is funded through NRA 344-33-01 and 344-02-57 Carlson et al. (1999) Science, 283, 2062 Carlson (2001) private communication

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