Impact-induced N2 production from ammonium sulfate: Implications for the origin and evolution of N2 in Titan’s atmosphere

Chemical reactions and volatile supply through hypervelocity impacts may have played a key role for the origin and evolution of both planetary and satellite atmospheres. In this study, we evaluate the role of impact-induced N2 production from reduced nitrogen-bearing solids proposed to be contained in Titan’s crust, ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4), for the replenishment of N2 to the atmosphere in Titan’s history. To investigate the conversion of (NH4)2SO4 into N2 by hypervelocity impacts, we measured gases released from (NH4)2SO4 that was exposed to hypervelocity impacts created by a laser gun. The sensitivity and accuracy of the measurements were enhanced by using an isotope labeling technique for the target. We obtained the efficiency of N2 production from (NH4)2SO4 as a function of peak shock pressure ranging from ∼8 to ∼45 GPa. Our results indicate that the initial and complete shock pressures for N2 degassing from (NH4)2SO4 are ∼10 and ∼25 GPa, respectively. These results suggest that cometary impacts on Titan (i.e., impact velocity vi > ∼8 km/s) produce N2 efficiently; whereas satellitesimal impacts during the accretion (i.e., vi < 4 km/s) produce N2 only inefficiently. Even when using the proposed small amount of (NH4)2SO4 content in the crust (∼4 wt.%) (Fortes, A.D. et al., 2007. Icarus 188, 139–153), the total amount of N2 provided through cometary impacts over 4.5 Ga reaches ∼2–6 times the present atmospheric N2 (i.e., ∼7 × 1020–2 × 1021 [mol]) based on the measured production efficiency and results of a hydrodynamic simulation of cometary impacts onto Titan. This implies that cometary impacts onto Titan’s crust have the potential to account for a large part of the present N2 through the atmospheric replenishment after the accretion.