Silicon Tetrafluoride on Io

Details Silicon Tetrafluoride on Io Silicon Tetrafluoride on Io

2005-06-01

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0506032v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

16 pages, 2 figures, 1 table; Icarus, in press

Scientific paper

10.1016/j.icarus.2005.05.020

Silicon tetrafluoride (SiF4) is observed in terrestrial volcanic gases and is predicted to be the major F - bearing species in low temperature volcanic gases on Io (Schaefer and Fegley, 2005b). SiF4 gas is also a potential indicator of silica-rich crust on Io. We used F/S ratios in terrestrial and extraterrestrial basalts, and gas/lava enrichment factors for F and S measured at terrestrial volcanoes to calculate equilibrium SiF4/SO2 ratios in volcanic gases on Io. We conclude that SiF4 can be produced at levels comparable to the observed NaCl/SO2 gas ratio. We also considered potential loss processes for SiF4 in volcanic plumes and in Io's atmosphere including ion-molecule reactions, electron chemistry, photochemistry, reactions with the major atmospheric constituents, and condensation. Photochemical destruction (tchem ~ 266 days) and/or condensation as Na2SiF6 (s) appear to be the major sinks for SiF4. We recommend searching for SiF4 with infrared spectroscopy using its 9.7 micron band as done on Earth.

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