Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Blogs | Writers | Paid | My Orble | Login

Astroearth - by CarlCan

Mars Has Gas

January 17th 2009 03:00
Category: No Category
Mars

Scientists in Europe and the United States have detected what seems to be promising signs of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere, and cannot yet explain why it's there.
Methane is commonly exuded by living organisms and fermentation. It can also rise to the surface during volcanic eruptions, and can be carried by comets that at times have made contact with the atmosphere here on Earth and other planets. On Earth, most of the methane in the atmosphere comes from the digestive processes of animals and bacteria in wetlands and landfills.

The amounts of atmospheric methane detected by instruments aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft now orbiting the planet are extremely small barely more than 10 parts per billion, but the find is already creating a major interest among Mars researchers. Before we get our hopes up on where the methane originated from we need to look for trigger. Is it the byproduct of bacteria living just under the surface of Mars or a natural occurrence such as a volcanic eruption, there are four possible major sources for the methane.

Firstly, it could be emerging from a Martian volcano that is erupting right now, even though little or no volcanic activity has been observed on Mars from high-resolution ground-based telescopes on Earth or from orbiters circling the Red Planet.

Secondly, the gas may have been deposited into the planet's atmosphere by a grazing comet or asteroid, even by one that hit the surface very recently.


Thirdly the least likely but certainly the most dramatic of all it could be emerging from beneath the Martian surface a byproduct of some kind of living organism’s bacteria, perhaps might be surviving and nourishing themselves by ingesting the soil and rocks containing chemicals that serve as a source of energy.

And fourthly methane could be produced naturally by the oxidation of rocks and chemicals within the Martian soil.
Wherever the methane comes from, it must be either of relatively recent origin or be continuously replenished, because the gas lasts only a few hundred years or so before it oxidizes and becomes water and carbon dioxide.


40
Vote
Add To: del.icio.us Digg Furl Spurl.net StumbleUpon Yahoo


   
subscribe to this blog 


   

   


Recent Posts:
      The Moon At Fault 
      In Search Of a New Earth 
      Occultations of Stars and Planets 
Comments
2 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by S.L.

January 17th 2009 03:20
I'm looking forward to hearing what the cause is, CarlCan! Maybe it's John Carter (after eating Martian beans?) LOL

Comment by CarlCan

January 17th 2009 15:06
Hi S.L

John Carter, yes I would buy that for a dollar lol

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.


CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag
Home Page (optional)
Comments
Bold Italic Underline Strikethrough Separator Left Center Right Separator Quote Insert Link Insert Email
Notify me of replies
Notify extra people about this comment
Is this a private comment?
List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment


One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.


One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)
Your Email Address
(optional)
(required for reply notification)
Submit
More Posts
1 Posts
12 Posts
16 Posts
310 Posts dating from June 2007
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:
0

CarlCan's Blogs

I have no other blogs :(
Moderated by CarlCan
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]