Authors: M. Ferus, P. Kubelík, A. Knízek, A. Pastorek, J. Sutherland, S. Civiš Recent results in prebiotic chemistry implicate hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as the source of carbon and nitrogen for the synthesis of nucleotide, amino acid and lipid building blocks. HCN can be produced during impact events by reprocessing of carbonaceous and nitrogenous materials from both the impactor and the…
Authors: M. Civiš, M. Ferus, A. Knížek, P. Kubelik, M. Kamas, P. Španel, K. Drahina, V. Shestivska, L. Juha, P. Skrehot, V. Laitl, S. Civiš Large-scale plasma was created in gas mixtures containing methane using high-power laser-induced dielectric breakdown (LIDB). The composition of the mixtures corresponded to a cometary and/or meteoritic impact into the early atmosphere of either Titan or…
The photochemistries of methane and HCN are discussed in the context of the primitive terrestrial atmosphere,using a detailed numerical model. In the absenceof abundant O2, absorption of solar EUV (λ < 1023Å) by N2 provides a large thermosphersic source of atomic nitrogen. Methane is oxidized cleanly and efficiently,provided CO2 is more abundant than CH,•. Otherwise,a large fraction of the methane…