Meteoric Metal Chemistry in the Martian Atmosphere.

ABSTRACT: Recent measurements by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission show that a persistent layer of Mg⁺ ions occurs around 90 km in the Martian atmosphere but that neutral Mg atoms are not detectable. These observations can be satisfactorily modeled with a global meteoric ablation rate of 0.06 t sol^-1, out of a cosmic dust input of 2.7 ± 1.6 t sol^-1. The absence of detectable Mg at 90 km requires that at least 50% of the ablating Mg atoms ionize through hyperthermal collisions with CO₂ molecules. Dissociative recombination of MgO⁺.(CO₂)_n cluster ions with electrons to produce MgCO₃ directly, rather than MgO, also avoids a buildup of Mg t

SUBMITTER: Plane JMC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5947882 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature