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Water loss on Venus - The role of carbon monoxideThe four-to-fivefold difference in water abundance between the earth and Venus may reflect either initial differences in the bulk volatile content of the two planets, or massive water loss mechanisms on Venus. These two possibilities were investigated by performing thermodynamic calculations on the heterogeneous system C-O-H-N-S, varying C/H upward from its 0.033 terrestrial value. While atmospheric H2O decreases as bulk C/H increases, the latter would have to rise to an improbably high value in order to account for the low water abundance on Venus through initial deficiency alone. Calculations suggest that if the outgassed C/H on Venus was higher than on earth by even a factor of 5, it would have been sufficient for CO to become competitive with FeO as a sink for oxygen. Together with the lower initial water abundance value that follows from a higher C/H ratio, water loss due to CO may have been a major factor.
Document ID
19850033288
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Richardson, S. M.
(Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, IA, United States)
Pollack, J. B.
(Iowa State Univ. of Science and Technology Ames, IA, United States)
Reynolds, R. T.
(NASA Ames Research Center Theoretical Space Studies, Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Volume: 60
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
85A15439
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NCC2-174
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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