Variability of ethane on Jupiter

Varying stratospheric temperature profiles and C2H6 altitude distributions furnish contexts for the evaluation of ethane abundances and distributions in the Jupiter stratosphere. Substantial ethane line emission and retrieved mole fraction variability is noted near the footprint of Io's flux tube, as well as within the auroral regions. It is suggested that this and other observed phenomena are due to the modification of local stratospheric chemistry by higher-order effects, which are in turn speculated to be due to the precipitation of charged particles along magnetic field lines.