Volatile Trapping in Martian Clathrates |
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Authors: | Olivier Mousis Eric Chassefière Jérémie Lasue Vincent Chevrier Megan E. Elwood Madden Azzedine Lakhlifi Jonathan I. Lunine Franck Montmessin Sylvain Picaud Frédéric Schmidt Timothy D. Swindle |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institut UTINAM, CNRS/INSU, UMR 6213, Université de Franche-Comté, 25030, Besan?on Cedex, France 2. UPS-OMP, CNRS-INSU, IRAP, Université de Toulouse, 14 Avenue Edouard Belin, 31400, Toulouse, France 3. Laboratoire IDES, UMR 8148, Univ. Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay, France 4. CNRS, 91405, Orsay, France 5. UPS-OMP, IRAP, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France 6. CNRS, IRAP, 9 Av. colonel Roche, BP 44346, 31028, Toulouse cedex 4, France 7. W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space Simulation, Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA 8. School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73072, USA 9. Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA 10. LATMOS, CNRS/IPSL/UVSQ, Guyancourt, France 11. Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
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Abstract: | Thermodynamic conditions suggest that clathrates might exist on Mars. Despite observations which show that the dominant condensed phases on the surface of Mars are solid carbon dioxide and water ice, clathrates have been repeatedly proposed to play an important role in the distribution and total inventory of the planet’s volatiles. Here we review the potential consequences of the presence of clathrates on Mars. We investigate how clathrates could be a potential source for the claimed existence of atmospheric methane. In this context, plausible clathrate formation processes, either in the close subsurface or at the base of the cryosphere, are reviewed. Mechanisms that would allow for methane release into the atmosphere from an existing clathrate layer are addressed as well. We also discuss the proposed relationship between clathrate formation/dissociation cycles and how potential seasonal variations influence the atmospheric abundances of argon, krypton and xenon. Moreover, we examine several Martian geomorphologic features that could have been generated by the dissociation of extended subsurface clathrate layers. Finally we investigate the future in situ measurements, as well as the theoretical and experimental improvements that will be needed to better understand the influence of clathrates on the evolution of Mars and its atmosphere. |
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