Meteoric Metal Chemistry in the Martian Atmosphere

Recent measurements by the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) instrument on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission show that a persistent layer of Mg⁺ ions occurs around 90 km in the Martian atmosphere but that neutral Mg atoms are not detectable. These observations can be satisfactorily modeled with a global meteoric ablation rate of 0.06 t sol⁻¹, out of a cosmic dust input of 2.7 ± 1.6 t sol⁻¹. The absence of detectable Mg at 90 km requires that at least 50% of the ablating Mg atoms ionize through hyperthermal collisions with CO₂ molecules. Dissociative recombination of MgO⁺.(CO₂)n cluster ions with electrons to produce MgCO₃ directly, rather than MgO, also avoids a buildup of Mg to detectable levels. The meteoric injection rate of Mg, Fe, and other metals—constrained by the IUVS measurements—enables the production rate of metal carbonate molecules (principally MgCO₃ and FeCO₃) to be determined. These molecules have very large electric dipole moments (11.6 and 9.2 Debye, respectively) and thus form clusters with up to six H₂O molecules at temperatures below 150 K. These clusters should then coagulate efficiently, building up metal carbonate‐rich ice particles which can act as nucleating particles for the formation of CO₂‐ice clouds. Observable mesospheric clouds are predicted to occur between 65 and 80 km at temperatures below 95 K and above 85 km at temperatures about 5 K colder.