The gas' very existence has long since puzzled scientists

Sep 11, 2012 14:59 GMT  ·  By
Dust devils on Mars may contribute to producing methane by ionizing water-ice at high latitudes
   Dust devils on Mars may contribute to producing methane by ionizing water-ice at high latitudes

When planetary scientists first discovered fairly high amounts of methane in the Martian atmosphere, they interpreted the data as signifying that our neighboring world is either geologically, or biologically, alive. Now, a team of experts proposes a new explanation – dust devils.

According to researchers in Mexico, dust devils that form on Mars, and then go on to roam the surface, oftentimes pass over ice fields at high latitudes. When this happens, they produce electrical discharges that ionize gaseous carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and water-ice under a thin layer of sand.

This reaction produces a series of compounds that then recombine to create methane. The fact that this gas is present in the atmosphere is weird because the compound is relatively short-lived, and yet various spacecraft saw a lot of it.

An implication of this discovery was that the planet was either producing the gas within, and letting it go through cracks and vents in the surface, or that microbe colonies spread out all over the place were excreting it. Either way, that meant the planet was somehow alive.

However, no other studies ever arrived at a similar conclusion. This is why the new theory, by researchers at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, in Azcapotzalco, Mexico, makes sense.

“We propose a new production mechanism for methane based on the effect of electrical discharges over iced surfaces. The discharges, caused by electrification of dust devils and sand storms, ionize gaseous CO2 and water molecules and their byproducts recombine to produce methane,” the team explains.

The UAM team, led by expert Arturo Robledo-Martinez, published details of the mechanism in the latest issue of the esteemed scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, Universe Today reports.

“Methane is quickly destroyed in the Martian atmosphere in a variety of ways, so our discovery of substantial plumes of methane […] indicates some ongoing process is releasing the gas,” NASA Goddard Space Flight Center expert Dr. Michael Mumma said in 2009.

“At northern mid-summer, methane is released at a rate comparable to that of the massive hydrocarbon seep at Coal Oil Point in Santa Barbara, California,” he added, as he was revealing new data of Mars' ongoing methane production.