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Volatile Trapping in Martian Clathrates

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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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Notes

  1. Changes in obliquity over long timescales are probably too strong (Mischna et al. 2003; Forget et al. 2006; Montmessin 2006) to allow the preservation of any information concerning the clathrate formation/dissociation cycles that took place at these epochs.

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Acknowledgements

O.M. acknowledges support from CNES. E.C. and A.L. acknowledge support from CNRS EPOV interdisciplinary program. T.S. acknowledges support from NASA Fundamental Research, and J.I.L. from JPL’s Distinguished Visiting Scientist Program. We wish to thank the organizers of the ISSI workshop for having been able to gather scientists from various fields around the Martian geochemistry. The authors are indebted to P.-Y. Meslin, C. Sotin, M. Toplis and M. Trainer whose comments and suggestions greatly improved this manuscript. M.E.E.M. acknowledges support from the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program.

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Mousis, O., Chassefière, E., Lasue, J. et al. Volatile Trapping in Martian Clathrates. Space Sci Rev 174, 213–250 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-012-9942-9

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