Hydrogen chloride was discovered in the atmosphere of Mars, the discovery was made by the Russian spectrometer of the ExoMars-2016 project.
Hydrogen chloride appeared in the atmosphere duringglobal dust storm and gradually disappeared after it ended. This discovery forces us to reconsider the models of chemical reactions associated with the interaction of the surface and atmosphere of Mars, notes the press service of Roscosmos.
This is the first time halogen gas has been detected in the atmosphere of Mars, and it is evidence of an entirely new chemical cycle that we have yet to understand.
Kevin Olsen, professor at the University of Oxford, one of the lead authors of the article.
For the first time, hydrogen chloride has been discovered in the atmosphere of Mars!
The discovery was made by the Russian spectrometer of the #ExoMars2016 project. Does this force us to reconsider the models of chemical reactions associated with the interaction of the surface and atmosphere of the Red Planet?
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— ROSCOSMOS (@roscosmos) February 11, 2021
Hydrogen chloride, HCl, has been known in atmospheres asat least on two planets of the solar system: Earth and Venus. On Earth, it is released into the air from the sea when sea salt particles are converted to aerosol.
As representatives of the department note, there istwo hypotheses about where hydrogen chloride came from on Mars. The first is dust particles raised from the surface, or active volcanism. Small amounts of hydrogen chloride are known to be released during eruptions on Earth.
In this case, "bursts" of concentration of thissubstances would have to correspond to seismic events on Mars, but so far no correlation has been found with data from the InSight lander, which observes seismic activity on Mars.
Secondly, the coincidence in time with the beginning and end of dust storms suggests that the source of chlorine still “lies on the surface.”
The main question is also what is not up tothe end is clear how chlorine is converted from a constituent part of Martian minerals into gaseous hydrogen chloride. It is also not known where the hydrogen chloride disappears after the dust storm.
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