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Published September 1985 | public
Journal Article

Laboratory Studies on the Reactions between Chlorine, Sulfur Dioxide, and Oxygen: Implications for the Venus Stratosphere

Abstract

The title reaction was studied by photolyzing mixtures of Cl_2 and SO_2 with and without O_2 present in an atmosphere of N_2, using Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry to monitor reactants and products. In the absence of oxygen, sulfur dioxide is quantitatively converted to sulfuryl chloride. With 10 to 150 Torr O_2 present H_2SO_4 is produced as well as SO_2Cl_2. When a number of speculative reactions inferred from these experiments are added to a published model for Venus stratospheric chemistry, it emerges that SO_2Cl_2 is a key reservoir species for chlorine and that the reaction between Cl and So_2 provides an important cycle for destroying O_2 and converting SO_2 to H_2SO_4. The modified model could provide a possible solution to the photochemistry of the Venus stratosphere if the mixing ratio of chlorine on Venus were as high as 8 ppm.

Additional Information

© 1985 by Academic Press, Inc. Received 6 December 1984, Revised 13 March 1985, Available online 26 October 2002. Contribution number 4157 of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. 91125. R.H.S. records his appreciation to Jet Propulsion Laboratory for hospitality and financial support while on study leave from Macquarie University, Sydney. Australia. Valuable discussions with members of JPL chemical kinetics and photochemistry group, particularly Jim Goble, Jim Margitan, and S. P. Sander, are gratefully acknowledged. Y.L.Y. thanks D. M. Hunten and J. M. Rodriquez for helpful discussions. The research described in this paper was performed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NASA Contract NAG2-267 to the California Institute of Technology.

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 17, 2023