A new astrobiological model of the atmosphere of Titan

TL;DR

This paper introduces an extended atmospheric model for Titan, covering from surface to 1500 km, incorporating condensation, sublimation, and haze formation to better understand nitrogen-bearing molecules and their potential for prebiotic chemistry.

Contribution

The model extends previous work by including lower atmospheric regions and detailed aerosol processes, improving predictions of molecule abundances and haze effects.

Findings

Good agreement with observed C2H5CN mixing ratios

Condensation significantly influences molecule abundances below 500 km

Model predictions of acrylonitrile match observations, supporting its potential role in prebiotic chemistry

Abstract

We present results of an investigation into the formation of nitrogen-bearing molecules in the atmosphere of Titan. We extend a previous model (Li et al. 2015, 2016) to cover the region below the tropopause, so the new model treats the atmosphere from Titan's surface to an altitude of 1500 km. We consider the effects of condensation and sublimation using a continuous, numerically stable method. This is coupled with parameterized treatments of the sedimentation of the aerosols and their condensates, and the formation of haze particles. These processes affect the abundances of heavier species such as the nitrogen-bearing molecules, but have less effect on the abundances of lighter molecules. Removal of molecules to form aerosols also plays a role in determining the mixing ratios, in particular of HNC, HC3N and HCN. We find good agreement with the recently detected mixing ratios of C2H5CN, with condensation playing an important role in determining the abundance of this molecule below 500 km. Of particular interest is the chemistry of acrylonitrile (C2H3CN) which has been suggested by Stevenson et al. (2015) as a molecule that could form biological membranes in an oxygen-deficient environment. With the inclusion of haze formation we find good agreement of our model predictions of acrylonitrile with the available observations.