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Methane in the Martian Atmosphere

Methane in the Martian Atmosphere. Methane gas was recently detected in Mars’ atmosphere using groundbased telescopes The methane gas distribution is patchy and changes with time Most methane in Earth’s atmosphere is produced by life, raising questions about its origin on Mars.

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Methane in the Martian Atmosphere

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  1. Methane in the Martian Atmosphere • Methane gas was recently detected in Mars’ atmosphere using groundbased telescopes • The methane gas distribution is patchy and changes with time • Most methane in Earth’s atmosphere is produced by life, raising questions about its origin on Mars View of Mars colored according to the methane concentration observed in the atmosphere. Warm colors depict high concentrations.

  2. Recent Release of Methane • Methane in the atmosphere should be destroyed by UV light within a few hundred years • Methane observed now must therefore have been produced recently • Variations in space and time suggest that it was recently released from the subsurface in localized areas UV photons have enough energy to break molecules apart

  3. The Big Picture surface methane liquid water hot rock ~2 µm methane bacteria • Where can the methane come from? From analogy with Earth, there are two leading theories for the origin of recent subsurface methane at Mars: • Methane is produced by water-rock interactions • Methane is produced by bacteria, in regions where liquid water is found Either theory implies that the Martian subsurface is dynamic • Future observations can test for trace chemicals associated with each process Methane on Mars could be produced chemically through liquid/rock interactions (top) or biologically (bottom)

  4. For more information… Prepared for the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society by David Brain and Nick Schneider dpsdisc@aas.org - http://dps.aas.org/education/dpsdisc/ - Released 24 April 2009 Press Releases • space.com - 1/15/09 - “Mars Methane: Geology or Biology?” http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090115-mars-methane-news.html Images • All images (and accompanying animations) can be found at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mars/news/marsmethane_media.html Source Article(on-campus login may be required to access journals) • Mumma et al., ‘Strong Release of Methane on Mars in Northern Summer 2003’, Science, 323, p. 1041
DOI: 10.1126/science.1165243, 2009. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/323/5917/1041 Related Articles(on-campus login may be required to access journals) • Formisano et al., ‘Detection of Methane in the Atmosphere of Mars’, Science, 306, p.1758
DOI: 10.1126/science.1101732, 2004. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/306/5702/11758 • Krasnopolsky et al., ‘Detection of methane in the martian atmosphere: evidence for life?’, Icarus, 172, p.537, doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2004.07.004, 2004. http://tinyurl.com/krasnopolskyIcarus2004

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