Vertical distribution of disequilibrium species in Jupiter's troposphere |
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Authors: | John S Lewis M Bruce Fegley Jr |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Planetary Sciences, University of Arizona, 85721 Tucson, AZ, USA;(2) Ceramics Processing Research Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building 12-011, 02139 Cambridge, MA, USA |
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Abstract: | Sources of organic matter and inorganic tracers on Jupiter, including solar UV photolysis, lightning discharges, and convective quenching of hot gases from the lower atmosphere, are reviewed in light of Earth-based and Voyager data with the purpose of predicting the tropospheric steady-state abundances and vertical distributions of HCN, CH2O, and other species.It is concluded that a steady-state mole fraction of HCN in the Jovian troposphere of only 10-12 could be maintained by vertical transport of hot gases from the deep atmosphere. The observed HCN abundance (roughly XHCN = 10-9) appears to be due to photochemical reactions.After HCN, the most abundant organic disequilibrium species in the troposphere is probably C2H6, derived from direct photolysis of CH4 at high altitudes, with a mole fracton of 10-10 at the H2O cloud level. Inorganic tracers of disequilibrium processes are also briefly summarized. |
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