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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 108, NO. E4,
8042,
doi:10.1029/2002JE001901,
2003
Methane and carbon dioxide hydrates on Mars: Potential origins, distribution, detection, and implications for future in situ
resource utilization
Robert E. Pellenbarg
MDS Research,
Washington, DC,
USA
Michael D. Max
MDS Research,
Washington, DC,
USA
Stephen M. Clifford
Lunar and Planetary Institute,
Houston,
Texas,
USA
Abstract
There is high probability for the long-term crustal accumulation of methane and carbon dioxide on Mars. These gases can arise
from a variety of processes, including deep biosphere activity and abiotic mechanisms, or, like water, they could exist as
remnants of planetary formation and by-products of internal differentiation. CH4 and CO2 would tend to rise buoyantly toward the planet's surface, condensing with water under appropriate conditions of temperature
and pressure to form gas hydrate. Gas hydrates are a class of materials created when gas molecules are trapped within a crystalline
lattice of water-ice. The hydrate stability fields of both CH4 and CO2 encompass a portion of the Martian crust that extends from within the water-ice cryosphere, from a depth as shallow as ∼10–20
m to as great as a kilometer or more below the base of the Martian cryosphere. The presence and distribution of methane and
carbon dioxide hydrates may be of critical importance in understanding the geomorphic evolution of Mars and the geophysical
identification of water and other volatiles stored in the hydrates. Of critical importance, Martian gas hydrates would ensure
the availability of key in situ resources for sustaining future robotic and human exploration, and the eventual colonization,
of Mars.
Published 30
April
2003.
Index Terms: 5455 Planetology: Solid Surface Planets: Origin and evolution; 5410 Planetology: Solid Surface Planets: Composition; 1823 Hydrology: Frozen ground; 1655 Global Change: Water cycles (1836); 5430 Planetology: Solid Surface Planets: Interiors (8147).
Read Full Article (file size: 80286 bytes) Cited by
Citation: Pellenbarg, R. E., M. D. Max, and S. M. Clifford
(2003),
Methane and carbon dioxide hydrates on Mars: Potential origins, distribution, detection, and implications for future in situ
resource utilization,
J. Geophys. Res.,
108(E4),
8042,
doi:10.1029/2002JE001901.
Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.
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