Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane
Methane hydrate is thought to have been the dominant methane-containing phase in the nebula from which Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their major moons formed1. It accordingly plays an important role in formation models of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Current understanding1, 2 assumes that methan...
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ftnrccanada:oai:cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.ca:cistinparc:12338699 2023-05-15T17:11:36+02:00 Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane Loveday, J. S. Nelmes, R. J. Guthrie, M. Belmonte, S. A. Allan, D. R. Klug, D. D. Tse, J. S. Handa, Y. P. 2001-04-05 text https://doi.org/10.1038/35070513 https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=6e517462-cec0-417a-b447-e6ccc132567d https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=6e517462-cec0-417a-b447-e6ccc132567d eng eng issn:0028-0836 Nature, Volume: 410, Issue: 6829, Publication date: 2001-04-05, Pages: 661–663 doi:10.1038/35070513 irn:10084666 article 2001 ftnrccanada https://doi.org/10.1038/35070513 2021-09-01T06:20:17Z Methane hydrate is thought to have been the dominant methane-containing phase in the nebula from which Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their major moons formed1. It accordingly plays an important role in formation models of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Current understanding1, 2 assumes that methane hydrate dissociates into ice and free methane in the pressure range 1�2 GPa (10�20 kbar), consistent with some theoretical3 and experimental4, 5 studies. But such pressure-induced dissociation would have led to the early loss of methane from Titan's interior to its atmosphere, where it would rapidly have been destroyed by photochemical processes6, 7. This is difficult to reconcile with the observed presence of significant amounts of methane in Titan's present atmosphere. Here we report neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies that determine the thermodynamic behaviour of methane hydrate at pressures up to 10 GPa. We find structural transitions at about 1 and 2 GPa to new hydrate phases which remain stable to at least 10 GPa. This implies that the methane in the primordial core of Titan remained in stable hydrate phases throughout differentiation, eventually forming a layer of methane clathrate approximately 100 km thick within the ice mantle. This layer is a plausible source for the continuing replenishment of Titan's atmospheric methane. NRC publication: Yes Article in Journal/Newspaper Methane hydrate National Research Council Canada: NRC Publications Archive Nature 410 6829 661 663 |
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National Research Council Canada: NRC Publications Archive |
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ftnrccanada |
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English |
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Methane hydrate is thought to have been the dominant methane-containing phase in the nebula from which Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and their major moons formed1. It accordingly plays an important role in formation models of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Current understanding1, 2 assumes that methane hydrate dissociates into ice and free methane in the pressure range 1�2 GPa (10�20 kbar), consistent with some theoretical3 and experimental4, 5 studies. But such pressure-induced dissociation would have led to the early loss of methane from Titan's interior to its atmosphere, where it would rapidly have been destroyed by photochemical processes6, 7. This is difficult to reconcile with the observed presence of significant amounts of methane in Titan's present atmosphere. Here we report neutron and synchrotron X-ray diffraction studies that determine the thermodynamic behaviour of methane hydrate at pressures up to 10 GPa. We find structural transitions at about 1 and 2 GPa to new hydrate phases which remain stable to at least 10 GPa. This implies that the methane in the primordial core of Titan remained in stable hydrate phases throughout differentiation, eventually forming a layer of methane clathrate approximately 100 km thick within the ice mantle. This layer is a plausible source for the continuing replenishment of Titan's atmospheric methane. NRC publication: Yes |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Loveday, J. S. Nelmes, R. J. Guthrie, M. Belmonte, S. A. Allan, D. R. Klug, D. D. Tse, J. S. Handa, Y. P. |
spellingShingle |
Loveday, J. S. Nelmes, R. J. Guthrie, M. Belmonte, S. A. Allan, D. R. Klug, D. D. Tse, J. S. Handa, Y. P. Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
author_facet |
Loveday, J. S. Nelmes, R. J. Guthrie, M. Belmonte, S. A. Allan, D. R. Klug, D. D. Tse, J. S. Handa, Y. P. |
author_sort |
Loveday, J. S. |
title |
Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
title_short |
Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
title_full |
Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
title_fullStr |
Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stable methane hydrate above 2 GPa and the source of Titan's atmospheric methane |
title_sort |
stable methane hydrate above 2 gpa and the source of titan's atmospheric methane |
publishDate |
2001 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/35070513 https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/eng/view/object/?id=6e517462-cec0-417a-b447-e6ccc132567d https://nrc-publications.canada.ca/fra/voir/objet/?id=6e517462-cec0-417a-b447-e6ccc132567d |
genre |
Methane hydrate |
genre_facet |
Methane hydrate |
op_relation |
issn:0028-0836 Nature, Volume: 410, Issue: 6829, Publication date: 2001-04-05, Pages: 661–663 doi:10.1038/35070513 irn:10084666 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/35070513 |
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Nature |
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410 |
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6829 |
container_start_page |
661 |
op_container_end_page |
663 |
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1766068382389501952 |