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[22.06] Oxygen Chemistry in Titan’s Atmosphere

E.H. Wilson (Jet Propulsion Laboratory), S.K. Atreya (University of Michigan)

Oxygen chemistry in the atmosphere of Titan is controlled by the presence of CO and a likely influx of extraplanetary oxygen. The presence of water vapor, corroborated by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) stratospheric detection [1], combined with CO induces the formation of CO₂, which has also been observed [2]. However, the high CO/H₂O ratio in Titan's atmosphere causes the propagation of oxygen chemistry to follow a different path than what is predicted for the Jovian planets. Specifically, the efficient CO recycling mechanisms serve to inhibit significant formation of larger oxygen compounds such as CH₃OH (methanol) and CH₂CO (ketene). The results of a 1-D photochemical model are presented in the context of identifying possible oxygen compounds that might be detected by the Cassini/Huygens mission which will arrive at Titan in 2004.

This work was supported by the NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program and by the GCMS Project of the Cassini/Huygens mission.

[1] A. Coustenis et al., Astron. Astrophys., 336, L85-L89, 1998. [2] A. Coustenis et al., Icarus, 80, 54-76, 1989.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3< br> © 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.