Production of ammonia makes Venusian clouds habitable and explains observed cloud-level chemical anomalies
Name
pnas.2110889118.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.9 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
1bf9dbf7484ef066595100c383978cb3
Author(s)
Bains, William
Petkowski, Janusz J
Rimmer, Paul B
Seager, Sara
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Citation
Bains, William, Petkowski, Janusz J, Rimmer, Paul B and Seager, Sara. 2021. "Production of ammonia makes Venusian clouds habitable and explains observed cloud-level chemical anomalies." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 118 (52).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Significance
This research provides a transformative hypothesis for the chemistry of the atmospheric cloud layers of Venus while reconciling decades-long atmosphere anomalies. Our model predicts that the clouds are not entirely made of sulfuric acid, but are partially composed of ammonium salt slurries, which may be the result of biological production of ammonia in cloud droplets. As a result, the clouds are no more acidic than some extreme terrestrial environments that harbor life. Life could be making its own environment on Venus. The model’s predictions for the abundance of gases in Venus’ atmosphere match observation better than any previous model, and are readily testable.
This research provides a transformative hypothesis for the chemistry of the atmospheric cloud layers of Venus while reconciling decades-long atmosphere anomalies. Our model predicts that the clouds are not entirely made of sulfuric acid, but are partially composed of ammonium salt slurries, which may be the result of biological production of ammonia in cloud droplets. As a result, the clouds are no more acidic than some extreme terrestrial environments that harbor life. Life could be making its own environment on Venus. The model’s predictions for the abundance of gases in Venus’ atmosphere match observation better than any previous model, and are readily testable.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1073/PNAS.2110889118
