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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
The Director’s Seminar series features talks from scientists who are invited by the NAI Director to present their research results to the community. A primary goal of the seminars is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across NAI teams and within the astrobiology community at large.
Team Overview Seminars describe the work of the fourteen NAI teams and NAI Central. They offer an opportunity to find out more about the science, E/PO and other activities being performed by the NAI teams and the NAI Central office.
The Forum for Astrobiology Research (FAR) provides an opportunity for graduate students to present their research results and to meet as a student community for networking and mutual support.
The University of Washington seminar series is hosted by the NAI Virtual Planetary Lab (VPL) team from the UW campus in Seattle.
