Molina, Mario J. — Page 2 | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS1988

The Antarctic ozone hole

Observations of Antarctic ozone levels and the discovery of a hole in the Antarctic region are examined. The effects of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on the level of stratospheric ozone are analyzed. Three cycles explaining the cause of ozone depletion in the poles are proposed. A comparison of field data and proposed depletion cycles reveals that the chemical origin of the ozone hole is due to CFCs. The potential global effects of the Antarctic ozone hole are discussed.

Molina, Mario J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Antarctic stratospheric chemistry of chlorine nitrate, hydrogen chloride, and ice - Release of active chlorine

The reaction rate between atmospheric hydrogen chloride (HCl) and chlorine nitrate (ClONO2) is greatly enhanced in the presence of ice particles; HCl dissolves readily into ice, and the collisional reaction probability for ClONO2 on the surface of ice with HCl in the mole fraction range from about 0.003 to 0.010 is in the range from about 0.05 to 0.1 for temperatures near 200 K. Chlorine is released into the gas phase on a time scale of at most a few milliseconds, whereas nitric acid (HNO3), the other product, remains in the condensed phase. This reaction could play an important role in explaining the observed depletion of ozone over Antarctica; it releases photolytically active chlorine from its most abundant reservoir species, and it promotes the formation of HNO3 and thus removes nitrogen dioxide from the gas phase. Hence it establishes the necessary conditions for the efficient catalytic destruction of ozone by halogenated free radicals.

Molina, Mario J.↗