Compositional Mapping of Surfaces in the Saturn System with Cassini VIMS: the Role of Water, Cyanide Compounds and Carbon Dioxide

HR: 10:35h
AN: P22A-02 [Abstracts]
TI: Compositional Mapping of Surfaces in the Saturn System with Cassini VIMS: the Role of Water, Cyanide Compounds and Carbon Dioxide
AU: * Clark, R N
EM: rclark@usgs.gov
AF: USGS, MS964 Box25046 Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 United States
AU: Brown, R
EM: rhb@lpl.arizona.edu
AF: U. Ariz., 1629 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721 United States
AU: Baines, K
EM: kbaines@pop.jpl.nasa.gov
AF: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Bellucci, G
EM: giancarlo.bellucci@ifsi.rm.cnr.it
AF: IFSI, Via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rime, 00133 Italy
AU: Bibring, J
EM: jean-pierre.bibring@ias.fr
AF: U. Paris Sud-Orsay, Spatiale, Batiment 120, Orsay Cedex, 91405 France
AU: Buratti, B
EM: bonnie.j.buratti@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Capaccioni, F
EM: capaccio@saturn.ias.rm.cnr.it
AF: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Via Fosso Del Cavaliere, Rome, 00133 Italy
AU: Cerroni, P
EM: priscio@ias.rm.cnr.it
AF: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Via Fosso Del Cavaliere, Rome, 00133 Italy
AU: Combes, M
EM: michel.combes@obspm.fr
AF: Obs. de Paris, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, Meudon, 92195 France
AU: Coradini, A
EM: coradini@ias.rm.cnr.it
AF: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale, Via Fosso Del Cavaliere, Rome, 00133 Italy
AU: Cruikshank, D
EM: Dale.P.Cruikshank@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Ames, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035 United States
AU: Drossart, P
EM: Pierre.Drossart@obspm.fr
AF: Obs. de Paris, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, Meudon, 92195 France
AU: Filacchione, G
EM: gianrico@rm.iasf.cnr.it
AF: Istituto di Astrofisica Spaziale e Fisica, via del Fosso del Cavaliere, 100, Rome, 00133 Italy
AU: Formisano, V
EM: formisan@nike.ifsi.rm.cnr.it
AF: IFSI, Via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rime, 00133 Italy
AU: Jaumann, R
EM: Ralf.Jaumann@dlr.de
AF: German Aerospace Center (DLR), Rutherfordstrasse 2, Berlin, 12489 Germany
AU: Langevin, Y
EM: yves.langevin@ias.fr
AF: Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Bat. 121, Orsay, FRA 91405
AU: Matson, D
EM: Dennis.L.Matson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Matson, D
EM: Dennis.L.Matson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: McCord, T
EM: mccordtb@aol.com
AF: PSI NW, 22 Fiddlers Road, Winthrop, WA 98862 United States
AU: Mennella, V
EM: Mennella@ifsi.rm.cnr.it
AF: IFSI, Via Fosso del Cavaliere, Rime, 00133 Italy
AU: Nelson, R
EM: robert.m.nelson@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: JPL, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 United States
AU: Nicholson, P
EM: nicholson@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu
AF: Corell U., 418 Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853 United States
AU: Sicardy, B
EM: bruno.sicardy@obspm.fr
AF: Obs. de Paris, 5 Place Jules Jannsen, Meudon, 92195 France
AU: Sotin, C
EM: sotin@chimie.univ-nantes.fr
AF: Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique, 2 rue de la Houssiniere, Nantes, 44072 France
AU: Curchin, J
EM: jcurchin@usgs.gov
AF: USGS, Box 25046 Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 United States
AU: Hoefen, T
EM: thoefen@usgs.gov
AF: USGS, Box 25046 Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 United States
AB: The Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) has completed one year of mapping in Saturn orbit and has provided a wealth of compositional information on the satellite surfaces and rings. While water ice is abundant in the Saturn system, carbon dioxide, cyanide compounds, and organic materials are also detected. The 2.42-micron absorption first observed on Phoebe (Clark et al., Nature, v435, 66-69, 2005), is reported here for the first time on Iapetus, Dione, and the F-ring. Trapped CO2 has also been discovered in the darker regions on Dione and Hyperion. Possible trace amounts of CO2 are seen on Mimas, Tethys, Rhea, and Enceladus. No CO2 has been detected in the F-ring. No 2.42-micron feature has yet been detected in spectra of Hyperion, but VIMS has yet to adequately spatially resolve the darker regions. Following Clark et al., 2005, the 2.42-micron band is due to cyanide compounds, and while the exact cyanide composition is still under study, complex CN molecules are ruled out by observed spectral structure favoring simple molecules such as KCN or HCN. Ultraviolet photolysis experiments conducted on cyanide compounds, nitriles, and organic compounds show that the origin of the trapped CO2 on the satellites of both Jupiter and Saturn can be explained by photolysis of cyanide compounds. The UV photolysis of laboratory samples shows the growth of CO2 with a corresponding decrease in CN, and the production of a brown color, commonly observed in the creation of tholins. The oxygen most likely comes from water in the systems. The cyanide photolysis appears to occur in the Saturn and Jupiter systems and probably in comets explaining a common link in chemistry, photochemical processing, and the commonly observed spectral properties.
DE: 5410 Composition (1060, 3672)
DE: 5422 Ices
DE: 5464 Remote sensing
DE: 5470 Surface materials and properties
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005