Mars methane detection and variability at Gale crater

Christopher R. Webster(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), P. R. Mahaffy(Goddard Space Flight Center), S. K. Atreya(University of Michigan), Gregory J. Flesch(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), M. A. Mischna(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Pierre‐Yves Meslin(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Kenneth A. Farley(California Institute of Technology), P. G. Conrad(Goddard Space Flight Center), L. E. Christensen(Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Alexander A. Pavlov(Goddard Space Flight Center), Javier Martín‐Torres(Luleå University of Technology), María‐Paz Zorzano(Centro de Astrobiología), T. H. McConnochie(University of Maryland, College Park), Tobias Owen(University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa), J. L. Eigenbrode(Goddard Space Flight Center), D. P. Glavin(Goddard Space Flight Center), A. Steele(Carnegie Institution for Science), C. A. Malespin(Goddard Space Flight Center), P. D. Archer(Johnson Space Center), B. Sutter(Johnson Space Center), Patrice Coll(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Caroline Freissinet(Goddard Space Flight Center), Christopher P. McKay(Ames Research Center), John E. Moores(York University), S. P. Schwenzer(The Open University), J. C. Bridges(University of Leicester), R. Navarro‐González(Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), R. Gellert(University of Guelph), M. T. Lemmon(Texas A&M University), the MSL Science Team
Science
December 17, 2014
10.1126/science.1261713
Cited by 461Open Access
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Abstract

Reports of plumes or patches of methane in the martian atmosphere that vary over monthly time scales have defied explanation to date. From in situ measurements made over a 20-month period by the tunable laser spectrometer of the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on Curiosity at Gale crater, we report detection of background levels of atmospheric methane of mean value 0.69 ± 0.25 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) at the 95% confidence interval (CI). This abundance is lower than model estimates of ultraviolet degradation of accreted interplanetary dust particles or carbonaceous chondrite material. Additionally, in four sequential measurements spanning a 60-sol period (where 1 sol is a martian day), we observed elevated levels of methane of 7.2 ± 2.1 ppbv (95% CI), implying that Mars is episodically producing methane from an additional unknown source.

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