At BBC Online David Whitehouse is reporting that the Mars Express PFS is going to report the detection of ammonia in the martian atmosphere at the COSPAR meeting next week. Obviously very exciting if the observations stand up; ammonia would be very unstable in the martian atmosphere and so would have to be constantly replenished, or if only present intermittently produced in contemporary fits and starts. It could clearly come from a biological source -- if Mars life is remotely like earth life it needs a nitrogen cycle. And the abiogenic sources of ammonia are probably scantier than those for methane: no serpentinisation, and no clathrates, I think (though ammonia can be mixed into water ice). So ammonia could be a strong signal of life.
But there are reasons to be a good bit more cautious about this detection than the methane detection (about which one should also be moderately cautious, though I must say I haven't been). The most important difference is that in the case of the methane, the news was particularly exciting because three different teams using a number of different instruments all seemed to see compatible results; here there is only one team reporting anything. Like the methane results, this ammonia result hasn't been published yet, and other scientists elsewhere haven't even seen the spectra at conferences yet. Indeed, as far as I know, the PFS team hasn't published results on anything as yet, and so there's no way for outside experts to assess the fine details of the ways in which they're analysing their data. As David notes in his piece, "[members of the PFS team] are still coming to terms with the complexities of the PFS as well as coping with some nagging power problems on Mars Express."
By a slightly freakish coincidence, I read the news while sitting next to Michael Mumma of NASA Goddard, one of the original methane observers (and thus, in some senses, a PFS competitor, though also a fellow striver after truth). Mumma -- who tried to detect ammonia in the martian atmosphere with earth-based instruments a few years ago, to no avail -- was clearly intrigued, but pointed out that if the ammonia detection was at ten microns (which the BBC report doesn't quite say, but which would be quite likely) then it would be very close to a quite striking carbon dioxide feature, and that if you were using a comparatively low resolution spectrometer such as PFS you'd want to be very careful indeed to make sure that the two bands weren't getting mixed up. Make of that what you will.
So if confirmed -- or simply published and scrutinised and found highly plausible -- this is extremely hot stuff: right now a very interesting thing to keep an eye on.
Incidentally, here in Iceland there is a delicacy called hakari made by burying sharks and leaving them to rot. Apparently it smells quite strongly of ammonia. Since Mars's ocean, if it has one, is undergound, it stands to reason that its sharks come ready-buried, and will thus be a potent ammonia source. Yet another way in which Mars is just Iceland writ large...
Fascinating post Oliver and I think you are right that we should be a bit more skeptical about ammonia than methane. Next weeks COSPAR meeting may say something though I am told it will not be completely up to date. It would be very good to see some hard data. What next? Benzene? Formaldehyde has been rumoured.
regards.
David.
Posted by: David Whitehouse | July 16, 2004 at 02:49 PM
Hi David,
it would be very interessting to know what (if anything) exactly Mr. Formisano said about ammonia on Mars. There's a statement by ESA PR that there's no search for ammonia going on via the PFS. Thanks.
Gunnar
Posted by: Gunnar Glitscher | July 17, 2004 at 03:50 PM
Please go to http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/COSPAR04/01554/COSPAR04-A-01554.pdf to read V. Formisano's 35 COSPAR July,2004 Paris Conference abstract on Mars Ammonia.
Posted by: Rick L. Sterling | July 17, 2004 at 11:01 PM
Thank you, Rick, for this info. Seems that we'll hear some interessting news from Paris in the next days...
Gunnar
Posted by: Gunnar Glitscher | July 18, 2004 at 11:55 PM
Regarding Mars ammonia, JPL planetary atmospheres researcher Mark Allen stated in Oct.,2001, "At present there are no known abiotic processes that would result in ammonia being present in the atmosphere without the existence of life." The URL for Mark Allen's Mars ammonia comments is http://www-mpl.sri.com/decadal/email/1024a.html
Posted by: Rick L. Sterling | July 19, 2004 at 01:46 AM
Conditional signs of life on a distant planet
By STEPHEN STRAUSS
Globe and Mail Update
POSTED AT 10:01 PM EDT Monday, Jul 19, 2004
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040719.wstrauss0720/BNStory/Front
Posted by: Alex R. Blackwell | July 20, 2004 at 06:21 PM
Thanks for sharing Brian and putnitg together this blog. Its also important to note that there are other things that can trigger the need to submit a corrected/revised RMP to the USEPA. A revised RMP must be submitted within the following time period for the following reasons1. Within 6 months of a change that alters the Program level of a process2. Within 6 months of a change that requires a revised offsite consequence analysis3. Within 6 months of a change that requires a revised PHA4. No later than the date on which a regulated substance is first present above a threshold quantity in a new process5. No later than the date on which a new regulated substance is first present in an already covered process above a threshold quantity6. No later than 3 years after a newly regulated substance is first listed by the USEPA7. Within 6 months of new accident history data becoming available8. Within 1 month of a change in emergency contact informationI've found that #8 is especially important to keep in mind because people change jobs often and it is not always the first thing on the mind of the new emergency contact to update the RMP.
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