Mars Express Confirms Methane in the Martian Atmosphere

European Space Agency via NASA Watch ^ | Tuesday, March 30, 2004

[manic4organic]

Martian Fartian?

[pctech]

I've only seen pictures of the Golden Arches.

That'll work just as good.

[WhiteGuy]

As my wife's saintly grandmother was fond of saying...........................

"Whereever you may be, always let your wind blow free, honey!"

A wise and healthy woman, lived to be 92.


(And I would respond, "Good out G. G.")

[WhiteGuy]

Another Fan of Mr. Methane!

Welcome Brother!!!!!

Howard Stern has said he was going to put this guy in his own Broadway Show!!!

I'll pay!

[norraad]

Because Golds books answer the original question in the article, "where does this methane come from?"

[Fitzcarraldo]

Beneath the ocean floor, methane can be generated by biological or nonbiological processes and then become trapped in cages of water ice molecules to become a 'methane hydrate'. Large quantities of methane are stored under the Earth's oceans that way.

Methane Hydrates Information

Hydrate mound on sea floor

[Menkenspiel]

It is only a matter of time - say, a couple more weeks of poking at rocks - before they conclude that Mars was destroyed by tax cuts and unilateral foreign policy that lead to planetary isolation and tragic global warming.

[Fitzcarraldo]

More on methane formation (on Earth - ):

Methane is formed in two ways. First, biogenic methane is the common by-product of bacterial ingestion of organic matter (as described in the equation below).

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(CH20)106(NH3)16(H2PO4) ---> 53CO2+53CH4+16NH3+H2PO4

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How methane is produced in shallow subsurface environments through biological alteration of organic matter (with original ratio of Carbon:Nitrogen:Phosphorus of 106:16:1). The equation summarizes successive stages of oxidation by oxygen and reduction by nitrates, sulfates, and carbonates. (from Sloan, 1990)

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The same process that produces methane in swamps, landfills, rice paddies, and the digestive tracts of mammals occurs continually within buried sediments in geologic environments all around the globe. Biogenic processes are capable of producing vast amounts of methane, and are considered to be the primary source of the methane trapped in hydrate layers within shallow sea floor sediments.

Second, thermogenic methane is produced by the combined action of heat, pressure and time on buried organic material. In the geologic past, conditions have periodically recurred in which vast amounts of organic matter were preserved within the sediment of shallow, inland seas. Over time and with deep burial, these organic-rich source beds are literally pressure-cooked with the output being the production of large quantities of oil and natural gas. Along with the oil, the gas (largely methane, but also ethane, propane and other larger molecules) slowly migrates upwards due to its buoyancy relative to water. If sufficient quantities reach the zone of hydrate stability, the gas will combine with local formation water to form hydrate.

Figure 1: Methane Hydrate Phases Temperatures and Pressures: Given adequate supplies of water and methane, Figure 1 shows the combination of temperatures and pressures (the phase boundary) that marks the transition from a system of co-existing free methane gas and water/ice solid methane hydrate. When conditions move to the left across the boundary, hydrate formation will occur. Moving to the right across the boundary results in the dissociation (akin to melting) of the hydrate structure and the release of free water and methane. In general, a combination of low temperature and high pressure is needed to support methane hydrate formation.

Methane Hydrates: All About Hydrates: Conditions for Methane Hydrate Formation

[R. Scott]

Cows and camels ...

[Fitzcarraldo]

You can comfortably hold burning methane hydrate in your hands:

[Fitzcarraldo]

nonbiological processes

This is actually 'biological' also in the sense methane is evolved from decaying organic detritus by heat and pressure...

[Fitzcarraldo]

ping

[ErnBatavia]

light a match, pal!

True story - back in the seventies (when people actually carried smoking materials in the office), I had a boss who would leave his cubicle, come out into the "pit", grimace, light a match, then go back into his hole.

He was an Austrian import, so it may have just been a cultural thing....

[ErnBatavia]

Poot-Ping-List-Ping!

[AmericanInTokyo]

Glad you spelled it as 'frat' house.

[Ichneumon]

[AmericanInTokyo]

Just in.....Mars rumored to be considering inking a Sister City relationship....with......

[ErnBatavia]

Trona - that is a coicidental hoot! My dad worked out there for a little while in either the late 40's or early 50's....American Potash. Now it's a virtual ghost town.

[reagan_fanatic]

[Godfollow]

Flatulence... the result of bio life forms... could it be?...