ABLATION AND CHEMISTRY OF METEORIC MATERIALS IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF TITAN

DOI: 
Publication date: 
01/01/1995
Main author: 
ENGLISH, MA
IAA authors: 
Authors: 
ENGLISH, MA; LARA, LM; LORENZ, RD; RATCLIFF, PR; RODRIGO, R
Journal: 
IN-SITU IMPACT DETECTION TECHNIQUES, INTERPLANETARY DUST, AND FUTURE MARS EXPLORATION
Publication type: 
Article
Volume: 
17
Pages: 
157-160
Number: 
Abstract: 
We compute the input of meteoric materials expected on Titan, and integrate this dust model with an ablation model and a comprehensive chemical model, investigating the effects on the atmosphere and surface. We find that a water deposition of similar to 10-100 times the expected interplanetary dust flux /7/, or a recent large impact, is required to produce the observed CO2 abundance /2/. Ionisation due to meteoric activity is not likely to be higher than that due to other sources.
Keywords: