(153c) Particle Cleaning in the Martian Environment

A startling feature found by the Viking Landers was the complete lack of organic materials found within the Martian soil. The active mechanism required to account for the missing organic materials is generally unknown but possible explanations are being explored. One possibility raised some time ago states that the absence of organic material and carbonaceous matter in the Martian soil samples studied by the Viking Landers might be due to an intrinsic atmospheric mechanism such as glow discharge. The high probability for dust interactions during Martian dust storms and dust devils, combined with the cold, dry climate of Mars most likely result in airborne dust that is highly charged. Such high electrostatic potentials generated during dust storms on Earth are not permitted in the low-pressure CO2 environment on Mars; therefore electrostatic energy released in the form of glow discharges is a highly likely phenomenon. Since glow discharge methods are used for cleaning and sterilizing surfaces throughout industry, the idea that dust in the Martian atmosphere undergoes a cleaning action many times over geologic time scales appears to be a plausible one.