Silicon ion chemistry in the ionosphere

Loss processes which remove Si⁺ ions selectively relative to other meteor-derived atomic ions in the E- and D-regions of the ionosphere have been identified and measured in the laboratory. The major Si⁺ loss in the E-region is the reaction Si⁺ + H₂O → HSiO⁺ + H (1) with a rate constant 2.3 ± 0.9 × 10^?10 cm³s^?1 at 300 K. The corresponding reactions with Fe⁺, Mg⁺ and other metallic meteor ions are endothermic. Presumably (1) is followed by a fast dissociative-recombination with electrons to produce neutral SiO or Si. At lower altitudes Si⁺ ions associate in a three-body reaction with O₂ with a much larger rate constant than the corresponding associations of Fe⁺ and Mg⁺ with O₂.