-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel R. Zeigler, Ph.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Monday, February 26, 2001 7:59 AM
Subject: RE: Europa submersible hypothetical
>
>Well, it would probably be pretty stinky -- although one thing made
>painfully
>clear at the Ames "Europa Focus Group" I attended is that we have no really
>good data whatsoever about what kind of materials may be mixed with the
>water. The only conclusion that could be reached is that there are a lot
of
>sulfur compounds -- sulfuric acid, elemental sulfur and/or sulfate salts.
>
>Bruce Moomaw
>
>
>I'm still not convinced about the stinkiness of the ocean, Bruce, although
>you're usually right about most things! ;-) Elemental sulfur is insoluble
>in water and so would likely be found only in thick sediments on the ocean
>floor. Sulfates and sulfuric acid are definitely odorless. The stinkiness
>factor is very high for many sulfur compounds, but most of those are
>organic. I doubt if the organic content of the ocean would be high enough
>to give anything more than a faint odor - probably not even that. Maybe
I'm
>forgetting a class of sulfur compounds that *would* be present, though.
>
>Dan
Looks like I fouled up on one major point -- I thought elemental sulfur was
water-soluble. Remove that, and it's quite possible that Europa's ocean
would be pretty much odorless. However, it may also have a significant
amount of organic compounds in it (synthesized by Jupiter's radiation out of
the CO2 which we do know is there, and perhaps also dumped into it by
comets) -- and one of the most likely is formaldehyde. And I imagine a
significant number of those organics would also incorporate sulfur. At any
rate, Europan water is definitely not something I would care to drink, thank
you.
Bruce Moomaw
==
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