Identification of chlorobenzene in the Viking gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer data sets: Reanalysis of Viking mission data consistent with aromatic organic compounds on Mars

Melissa Guzman 1 Christopher Mckay 2 Richard Quinn 2 Cyril Szopa 1 Alfonso Davila 2 Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez 3 Caroline Freissinet 1
1 IMPEC - LATMOS
LATMOS - Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales
2 ARC - NASA Ames Research Center
3 Laboratorio de Química de Plasmas y Estudios Planetarios [Mexico]
Abstract : Motivated by the recent detection of chlorobenzene by the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on the Curiosity rover, and the identification of its carbon source as indigenous to the martian sample, we reexamined the original, microfilm preserved, Viking gas chromatograph‐mass spectrometer (GCMS) data sets. We found evidence for the presence of chlorobenzene in Viking Lander 2 (VL‐2) data at levels corresponding to 0.08‐1.0 ppb (relative to sample mass), in runs when the sample was heated to 350°C and 500°C. Additionally, we found a correlation between the temperature dependence of the chlorobenzene signal and the dichloromethane signal originally identified by the Viking GCMS team. We considered possible sources of carbon that may have produced the chlorobenzene signal, by reaction with perchlorate during pyrolysis, including organic carbon indigenous to the martian parent sample and instrument contamination. We conclude that the chlorobenzene signal measured by VL‐2 originated from martian chlorine sources. We show how the carbon source could originate from the martian parent sample, though a carbon source contributed from instrument background cannot yet be ruled out.
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Submitted on : Thursday, June 21, 2018 - 3:24:40 PM
Last modification on : Friday, January 10, 2020 - 3:42:35 PM

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INSU | CNRS | UVSQ | UNIV-PARIS-SACLAY | SORBONNE-UNIVERSITE | LATMOS | SU-SCIENCES

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Melissa Guzman, Christopher Mckay, Richard Quinn, Cyril Szopa, Alfonso Davila, et al.. Identification of chlorobenzene in the Viking gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer data sets: Reanalysis of Viking mission data consistent with aromatic organic compounds on Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research. Planets, Wiley-Blackwell, 2018, 123 (7), pp.1674-1683. ⟨10.1029/2018JE005544⟩. ⟨insu-01820363⟩

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