DPS Pasadena Meeting 2000, 23-27 October 2000
Session 18. Titan Posters
Displayed, 1:00pm, Monday - 1:00pm, Friday, Highlighted Tuesday and Thursday, 3:30-6:30pm, C101-C105, C211

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[18.09] Saturnian satellite chemistry: Titan as polluter of the Saturn system

M.L. Delitsky, A.L. Lane (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

Outer planet satellites are subjected to irradiation from magnetospheric ions, photons, solar wind particles and cosmic rays. Ions will be implanted in their surfaces initiating chemistry at these sites, which is affected by factors such as heating and cooling from day-night cycles, interstitial disequilibrium, local temperature (latitude), and the oscillation of the magnetosphere. On the Jovian satellites, magnetospheric O+ and S+ ions implanted into their H2O/CO2 surfaces will yield CHO-containing products (Delitsky and Lane 1998). In the Saturnian system, nitrogen ions from sputtering of Titan's atmosphere will be transported through the magnetosphere (Eviatar 1984), and may impact the surfaces of the other satellites Rhea, Dione, Tethys, and Enceladus (if the ions can migrate inwards towards Saturn). This nitrogen 'pollution' should induce localized chemistry. The implanting of N+ into the water ice surfaces of these satellites may form species such as: NO, N2O, NO2, NO3, HNO2, HNO3, NH2OH, and R-OCN (Roessler 1985,1986, Strazzulla 1999, 2000).

1) Delitsky and Lane, Ice chemistry on the Galilean satellites, J.G.R.(Planets) 103, 31391 (1998),, 2) Eviatar, Plasma in Saturn's magnetosphere, JGR, 89,3821 (1984),, 3) Roessler, Cosmic chemistry of carbon and nitrogen implants in ice, Origins and Early Evolution of Life (Proceedings), Terra Cognita, 5,128(1985),, 4) Roessler, Chemical modification of insulators by ion-implantation, Rad. Effects and Defects in Solids, 99, 21(1986),, 5) Strazzulla, Ion irradiation experiments and nitrogen bearing species on Jovian and Saturnian icy surfaces, Planetary and Space Sci 47,1371(1999),, 6) Strazzulla et al., Ion implantation in ices, Nucl Inst and Meth., 166/167, 13-18 (2000)



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