Methane on Mars: the plot thickens

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Methane on Mars may be produced at rates 3000 times higher than previously thought and partially destroyed by dust storms, controversial new research suggests. The work is sure to reignite the debate over a possible biological origin for the gas, but another team reports that subsurface volcanism alone - and not life - can account for the gas. ...reports further evidence of the phenomenon. Using an infrared telescope in Hawaii and the Gemini South telescope in Chile, the group found concentrations of methane ranging from zero to more than 250 parts per billion across Mars. Such a drastic difference suggests something must be destroying the methane before it can be mixed uniformly through the atmosphere, says Mumma. And if it is destroyed in one month, he says, that implies it must be replenished 3000 times faster than current estimates suggest... They say dust particles that collide during Martian dust storms can become charged, with smaller particles gaining electrons and rising on air currents. This creates a large electric field that can accelerate electrons until they break apart water molecules in the atmosphere. The detritus from this smash-up can then oxidise, or destroy, methane molecules.