Physics Commons^™

Nitrogen Escape From Mars, Jane L. Fox, Alexander Dalgarno

Physics Faculty Publications

The escape rate of nitrogen from Mars is calculated to be 2.3×10⁵ s⁻¹ for low solar flux conditions and 8.9×10⁵ s⁻¹ for high solar flux conditions. The major source of energetic atoms is dissociative recombination of ground state and vibrationally excited N₂⁺ ions. The measured ¹⁵N/¹⁴N isotope ratio can be reproduced by postulating an early dense atmosphere during which little differentiation occurred.