¹Ebbe N. Bak, ²Svend J. Knak Jensen, ¹Per Nørnberg, ^1,3Kai Finster
¹Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, Building 1540, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
²Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Langelandsgade 140, Building 1511, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
³Stellar Astrophysics Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, Building 1520, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

The only organic compounds that have been detected in the Martian soil are simple chlorinated compounds released from heated surface material. However, the sources of the organic carbon are in dispute. Wind abraded silicates, which are widespread on the Martian surface, can sequester atmospheric methane which generates methylated silicates and thus could provide a mechanism for accumulation of reduced carbon in the surface soil. In this study we show that thermal volatilization of methylated silicates in the presence of perchlorate leads to the production of chlorinated methane. Thus, methylated silicates could be a source of the organic carbon released as chlorinated methane upon thermal volatilization of Martian soil samples. Further, our experiments show that the ratio of the different chlorinated compounds produced is dependent on the mass ratio of perchlorate to organic carbon in the soil.

Reference
Bak EN, Knak Jensen SJ, Nørnberg P, Finster K (2015) Methylated silicates may explain the release of chlorinated methane from Martian soil. Earth & Planetary Science Letters (in Press)
Link to Article [doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.10.044]
Copyright Elsevier