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Seminar Detail
Methane on Mars: What does it mean?
Presenter: James Lyons ()
March 28, 2005 11:00 AM Pacific
Recent spectroscopic detections of CH4 in the atmosphere of Mars are the
first definitive observations of an organic compound on that planet. The
relatively short photochemical lifetime of CH4 (~300 years) argues for a
geologically young source. We demonstrate here that low-temperature
alteration of basaltic crust by carbon-bearing hydrothermal fluid can
produce the required CH4 flux of 1 x 107 moles year-1, assuming conservative
values for crustal permeability and oxygen fugacity as implied by martian
basaltic meteorites. The crustal thermal disturbance due to a single dike ~
10 x 1 x 10 km during the past 104 years is capable of driving the
alteration, if all carbon is supplied by magmatic degassing from a dike with
only 50 ppm C. Atmospheric methane strongly suggests ongoing magmatism and
hydrothermal alteration on Mars.Participation Instructions
Sites who would like to connect via Polycom *MUST* notify Diane Hawks at
dhawks@mail.arc.nasa.gov, at least one hour before the seminar.
The slides from the seminar can be viewed real-time using WebEx at
https://naimeetings.webex.com, click on "Director's Seminar", the password
is 1KFalcon. If you've never joined a WebEx meeting before, please allow an
extra 5-10 minutes to install the plug-in. Explorer is the recommended
browser.
Sites without a Polycom system can listen to the seminar on the telephone
while viewing the slides in WebEx. The NASA Meet-me number for this is
650-604-3393.
Alternatively, participants without a Polycom system can view the webcast
at: http://vanseg-1.arc.nasa.gov/2005/AB050328-01.ram There is a 30 second
delay for the webcast, so viewers will need to advance the slides manually
in WebEx. Questions can be posted in the WebEx chat area to be
answered by Mike and Jim at the end of their talks.December 21, 2007
Team Overview Seminars: Each of the NAI teams will be giving one hour overview seminars that describe the work they will be performing as members of the NAI. These seminars, which will be broadcast via videoconference and web, will provide an opportunity to find out more about the science, EPO and other activities being performed by the NAI teams.
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