Permeation of photochemically-generated gaseous chlorine dioxide on Mars as a significant factor in destroying subsurface organic compounds
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Newmark, Jacob
Kounaves, Samuel P
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
It has been shown that ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is responsible for the destruction of organic compounds on the surface of Mars. When combined with the photochemically‑driven production of oxychlorines (ClOx) it can generate highly reactive species that can alter or destroy organic compounds. However, it has been assumed that since UV only penetrates the top few millimeters of the martian regolith, reactive ClOx oxidants are only produced on the surface. Of all the oxychlorine intermediates produced, gaseous chlorine dioxide [ClO2(g)] is of particular interest, being a highly
reactive gas with the ability to oxidize organic compounds. Here we report on a set of experiments
under Mars ambient conditions showing the production and permeation of ClO2(g) and its reaction with alanine as a test compound. Contrary to the accepted paradigm that UV irradiation on Mars only interacts with a thin layer of surface regolith, our results show that photochemically‑generated ClO2(g) can permeate below the surface, depositing ClOx species (mainly Cl− and ClO−3) and destroying organic compounds. With varying levels of humidity and abundant chloride and oxychlorines on Mars, our findings show that permeation of ClO2(g) must be considered as a significant contributing factor in altering, fragmenting, or potentially destroying buried organic compounds on Mars.
reactive gas with the ability to oxidize organic compounds. Here we report on a set of experiments
under Mars ambient conditions showing the production and permeation of ClO2(g) and its reaction with alanine as a test compound. Contrary to the accepted paradigm that UV irradiation on Mars only interacts with a thin layer of surface regolith, our results show that photochemically‑generated ClO2(g) can permeate below the surface, depositing ClOx species (mainly Cl− and ClO−3) and destroying organic compounds. With varying levels of humidity and abundant chloride and oxychlorines on Mars, our findings show that permeation of ClO2(g) must be considered as a significant contributing factor in altering, fragmenting, or potentially destroying buried organic compounds on Mars.
Date Issued
2024-04-01
Date Acceptance
2024-03-23
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2024, 14
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
14
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/38561442
PII: 10.1038/s41598-024-57968-1
Subjects
ALKALINE EARTH PERCHLORATES
AMINO-ACIDS
AQUEOUS-SOLUTIONS
CHEMISTRY
GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHY
IN-SITU
MARTIAN SOIL
Multidisciplinary Sciences
OXYCHLORINE IONS
RADIATION-INDUCED DECOMPOSITION
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
SURFACE
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
7682
Date Publish Online
2024-04-01