Titan’s atmosphere: An optimal gas mixture for aerosol production?

Here we present the first quantitative study of the gas to solid particle conversion in a Radio Frequency dusty plasma experiment simulating the complex atmospheric reactivity on Titan.Analogs of Titan’s aerosols have been produced in different N₂-CH₄ gas mixtures. Using in situ mass spectrometry, it has been found that, by varying the initial methane concentration, aerosols could be produced in methane steady state concentrations similar to Titan’s atmospheric conditions. In our experiment, an initial ∼5% methane concentration is necessary to ensure a ∼1.5% methane steady state concentration in the plasma.The tholin mass production rate has been quantified as a function of the initial methane concentration. A maximum was found for a steady state CH₄ concentration in agreement with Titan’s atmospheric CH₄ concentrations. At this maximum, the tholin C/N ratio is about 1.45 and the carbon gas to solid conversion yield is about 35%.We have modeled the mass production rate by a parabolic function, highlighting two competitive chemical regimes controlling the tholin production efficiency: an efficient growth process which is proportional to the methane consumption, and an inhibiting process which opposes the growth process and dominates it for initial methane concentrations higher than ∼5%. To explain these two opposite effects, we propose two mechanisms: one involving HCN patterns in the tholins for the growth process, and one involving the increasing amount of atomic hydrogen in the plasma as well as the increase in aliphatic contributions in the tholins for the inhibiting process. This study highlights new routes for understanding the chemical growth of the organic aerosols in Titan’s atmosphere.     

A possible new molecular mechanism of thundercloud electrification

Thunderclouds are electrified when charge is transferred between small and large ice particles colliding in a cloud that contains strong updrafts. The small ice particles rise with one type of charge and the large ice particles fall and carry with them downward the other type of charge, which is most often negative, so that normally lightning lowers negative charge from cloud to the ground. While the collisional mechanism of thundercloud charging is well established, the nature of the charge transfer between the colliding ice particles is not very well understood on the atomic level, and no present theory can explain it in full detail. Here we propose a new charge separation mechanism that is based on molecular dynamics simulations of particle surfaces and collisions, keeping track of the individual charges as they move in the form of salt ions from one ice particle to another. Under normal conditions, when sulfates dominate as cloud condensation nuclei, this ionic mechanism is consistent with the prevailing negative charging of graupels in thunderclouds. Moreover, with dearth of sulfate anions, the present mechanism predicts a shift towards positive charging. This fits well to a large range of observations of enhanced positive lightning, connected with smoke rich in chlorides and nitrates, that could not be explained satisfactorily previously.     

Sublimation extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: A new technique for future in situ analyses of purines and pyrimidines on Mars

We have developed a sublimation technique coupled with chemical derivatization and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to detect nucleobases and other volatile organic compounds derived from bacteria in Mars analog materials. To demonstrate this technique, a sample of serpentine inoculated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells was heated to 500 °C for several seconds under Martian ambient pressure. The sublimate was collected on a cold finger, then derivatized and analyzed by GC-MS. We found that adenine, cytosine, thymine and uracil were the most abundant molecules detected in the sublimed E. coli extract by GC-MS. In addition, nucleobases were also detected in sublimed extracts of a deep-sea sediment sample, seawater, and soil collected from the Atacama Desert in Chile after heating the samples under the same conditions. Our results indicate that nucleobases can be easily isolated directly from natural samples using sublimation and then detected by GC-MS after chemical derivatization. The sublimation-based extraction technique is one approach that should be considered for use by future in situ instruments designed to detect organic compounds relevant to life in the Martian regolith.     

Observed transport estimates between the North Atlantic and the Arctic Mediterranean in the Iceland–Scotland region

The Arctic Mediterranean is the ocean area north of the Greenland-Scotland Ridge. Exchanges between this region and the North Atlantic both provide the main source for production of North Atlantic Deep Water and supply heat and salt to the northern oceans. The exchange occurs through several gaps in the ridge; in terms of volume flux the Iceland-Scotland Gap is the most important one as it carries more than half the total, with approximately three quarters of the total inflow and one third of the total outflow. The Nordic WOCE observational system was initiated to monitor the exchanges through this gap and it has provided data that allow estimates of typical fluxes and their seasonal variation. The flux measurements show that most of the Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Mediterranean returns as overflow and hence the processes forming intermediate and deep waters in the Arctic Mediterranean are the main forcing mechanism for the Atlantic inflow. The inflow between Iceland and Scotland seems to be a maximum in late winter while the Faroe Bank Channel overflow is strongest in late summer. Using the results from the Nordic WOCE system it has been possible to interpret historical observations from Ocean Weather Ship Station M and conclude that the flux of the Faroe Bank Channel overflow decreased in magnitude from 1950 to 2000.     

A new extraction technique for in situ analyses of amino and carboxylic acids on Mars by gas chromatography mass spectrometry

In order to target key organic compounds in the Martian regolith using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), we have developed a new extraction procedure coupled with chemical derivatization. This new technique was tested on a Mars analog soil sample collected from the Atacama Desert in Chile. We found that amino and carboxylic acids can be extracted from the Atacama soil in a 1:1 mixture of isopropanol and water after ultrasonic treatment for 30 min. The extracted organic compounds were then derivatized in a single-step reaction using N-methyl-N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-trifluoroacetamide (MTBSTFA) as the silylating agent in order to transform these compounds into volatile species that can then be detected by GC-MS. We are currently developing a miniaturized reaction cell suited for spaceflight, where both organic extraction and chemical derivatization processes can take place in a single step.     

Study on the Historical Distribution of Metals in Aquatic Sediments

In this study, the historical distribution of metals, phosphorous, and sulfur at four different depths in the sediments of different lakes formed in the course of an urban river (in Londrina, Parana State, Brazil) were determined. The transport of metals along the course of the river was observed mainly for Mn, Cr, and Zn. High concentrations of Pb in the Capivara Bay and Cr in the river were attributed to contamination from a battery plant and a tannery, respectively. The concentrations of heavy metals in the deepest layers of the sediments remain high several years after deposition.