Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
Abstract It has been shown that ultraviolet (UV) irradiation is responsible for the destruction of organic compounds on the surface of Mars. When combined with the photochemically-driven production of oxychlorines (ClO x) it can generate highly reactive species that can alter or destroy organic compounds. However, it has been assumed that since UV only penetrates the top few millimeters of the martian regolith, reactive ClO x oxidants are only produced on the surface. Of all the oxychlorine intermediates produced, gaseous chlorine dioxide ClO 2 (g) is of particular interest, being a highly reactive gas with the ability to oxidize organic compounds. Here we report on a set of experiments under Mars ambient conditions showing the production and permeation of ClO 2 (g) and its reaction with alanine as a test compound. Contrary to the accepted paradigm that UV irradiation on Mars only interacts with a thin layer of surface regolith, our results show that photochemically-generated ClO 2 (g) can permeate below the surface, depositing ClO x species (mainly Cl − and ClO₃^ - ClO 3 -) and destroying organic compounds. With varying levels of humidity and abundant chloride and oxychlorines on Mars, our findings show that permeation of ClO 2 (g) must be considered as a significant contributing factor in altering, fragmenting, or potentially destroying buried organic compounds on Mars.
Newmark et al. (Mon,) studied this question.