Decomposition of Organic Compounds at the Martian Surface

Details Decomposition of Organic Compounds at the Martian Surface Decomposition of Organic Compounds at the Martian Surface

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.b13c1114y&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #B13C-1114

Other

0400 Biogeosciences, 0456 Life In Extreme Environments, 5220 Hydrothermal Systems And Weathering On Other Planets, 6225 Mars

Scientific paper

The 1976 Viking Landers were unable to detect organic compounds indigenous to Mars or that which has been delivered to the surface through meteoritic accumulations. A number of mechanisms for destroying organic material have been proposed to explain the in-situ results. These include destruction by ultraviolet radiation as well as through reactions with active oxygen species, products of atmospheric photochemistry, and reactive surfaces produced by mineral fracturing. The results of chemical analyses preformed by the Alpha Particle X- ray Spectrometers (APXS) onboard the Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) suggest that yet another mechanism could have been active. The APXS data show a constant sulfur to chlorine ratio of approximately 3.7:1 for most samples of unconsolidated regolith. Due to the absence of an obvious cation, this observed ratio is not likely to be a product of mixing with distinct sulfate and chloride phases, but rather in the form of a rind on mineral grain surfaces. The initial source of the S and Cl is believed to be volcanic outgassing in the form of HCl, SO2, and H2SO4. Reactions with martian surface materials produce localized sulfates and chlorides. Interactions with acidic volatiles, however, are also extremely effective in decomposing organic compounds. All of the samples analyzed by the Viking Landers exhibited SO3 levels of approximately 6 weight percent or greater and S:Cl ratios consistent with the MER results, suggesting that extensive exposure to products of volcanic emissions could be the reason that martian organics were not detected. Future attempts to evaluate the carbon inventory of the martian surface environment will include instrumentation more sensitive than delivered by Viking, but the greatest chance of discovering carbon compounds on Mars may involve samples which have not been exposed to volcanic gases.

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