A novel theory for the origin of water on Earth and in the solar system. Basically, electromagnetic or plasma vapor deposit hydrogen and oxygen atoms on surfaces or onto atmospheres to produce liquid water or coat with ice. This theory predicts high sulfur levels on Jupiter's moon Io , Saturn's icy rings etc

1. Plasma Water Theory
Or why the Earth is wet and Mars isn't
By Christopher Yukna
Science General
Ecole des Mines
Saint Etienne
yukna(at)emse.fr

2. Premise: Water is found where electromagnetic effects deposit Oxygen
and Hydrogen ions or alpha particles slam into Nitrogen atoms.
• Thus, our planet is wet because it has an oxygen and nitrogen
atmosphere and an active magnetosphere
• The solar wind provides protons and alpha particles to sustain
homeostasis.
• Without these aspects the Earth would be as dry as Mars and Venus.
• This is far simpler than existing explanations as to why the Earth is wet
and explains other areas where water exists in our solar system
• There are precedents with ions “electroplating” atmospheres in
explaining Jupiter's dark spot.
• As with any new theory there will be lots of holes and errors so any
help or suggestions are appreciated
Let’s look at how water has been thought of in the past

3. All the water that will ever be is, right now
National Geographic, October 1993
This is a static view in a universe which is dynamic and constantly in flux

4. True or False?
Far underground within the Earth at 20 kilometers deep or
more millions or even billions of tons of water are being
destroyed every day.

5. True
Serpentine and serpentinization:
A link between planet formation
and life
Hydrogen released during
serpentinization is of vital
importance for the emergence of
life because it acts as an energy
source for metabolism
What is even more
surprising is that there
exist a vast reservoir
of hydrogen under our
feet!
Hydrogen found in
Earth's crust is
'limitless fuel supply'
–
as much as 1,000 litres
of hydrogen may be
trapped in each cubic
metre of rock.

6. The Goldilocks Theory
(or why Earth has oceans)
Not too hot
Not too cold
But just right for liquid
water
But should fairy tales be
taken SERIOUSLY?

7. Okay, Goldilocks is why we can have water, but where did it come from?
"The origin of the oceans goes back to the time of the earth's formation 4. 6
billion years ago, when our planet was forming through the accumulation of
smaller objects, called planetesimals. There are basically three possible sources for
the water. It could have (1) separated out from the rocks that make up the bulk of
the earth; (2) arrived as part of a late-accreting veneer of water- rich meteorites,
similar to the carbonaceous chondrites that we see today; or (3) arrived as part of
a late-accreting veneer of icy planetesimals, that is, comets.
Scientific American

8. Turning an idea on its head
Or what’s life got to do with it?

9. Astrobiology
Can be thought of as the search for life giving
water in outer space, because H2O is
considered as the necessary precursor for any
carbon based life
Without liquid water, life as we know it
cannot exist.

10. "That the only solvent (water) with the refinement needed for nature's most intimate
machinations happens to be the one that covers two thirds of our planet is surely
something to take away and marvel at.".
From Life's Matrix by Philip Ball
Wouldn't it be neat if instead of looking for life where you
find water you should look for water where you find life?

11. Hydrogen and oxygen are the most and third most
common elements in the universe respectively, and
lots of water has been found in interstellar space
so what's the problem?
Hydrogen
Oxygen
The amount!

12. If the Earth was a perfect sphere and there were no
oceanic troughs or continents and mountains how
deep would the ocean be?
sretemolik rouf tuobA

13. But this is not the case for the other
terrestrial planets
Mercury
Almost non existent
Venus
(maybe a meter)
Mars
(perhaps 3 meters)
Yet they were made in the same manner as the Earth shouldn’t they have ta similar
amount of water?

14. In the past, Mars and Venus were not considered within the habitable zone
(remember Goldilocks), today they are often pictured there. So what is so
special about Earth?
See: Kepler Has Found the First Earth-Sized Exoplanet in a Habitable Zone!

15. Let's back up, we saw little water on the other terestrial planets
What about Jupiter?
Galileo probe
measurements, while
subject to scientific
debate, suggest a
(water) level near that
of the Sun. Scientists
are left to wonder,
Where is the oxygen?
Where is the water?
Hmm... Oxygen?

16. Where did the water go?
• Mars, Venus, and Mercury lost water due to photo-disassociation.
• In addition once their magnetic fields were effectively dissipated,
the solar wind would have played havoc with any chemical bonds,
or Radiolysis
• BTW Venus, Mars, and the Earth are still losing water to these
processes today as well as atmosphere.
• There is some debate on Earth's protective magnetic field's effect.
• Farther out in the solar system, there is less light and temperatures
are colder so water is less likely to disassociate.
• The lack of photo-disassociation “enlightens” why some sunless
craters on the Moon and perhaps Mercury contain water
• See more on Venus magnetic surprise or Solar Wind at Mars

17. Venus is losing it
• Did you know that Venus has a comet's tail of plasma that
extends past the orbit of our planet?
• Or that there is a faint Venusian ozone layer?
• Plus, Hydrogen loss was detected from the atmosphere on
Venus' day side,
• or the side facing the sun.
• A great deal of atmosphere
and water is lost daily.

18. Mars may have had more water than the Arctic Ocean!
• However Mars lost 87 % of it to space
• Three slight Martian ozone layers
• The solar wind strikes the surface of the planet

19. The Earth is losing water?
• Some studies suggest a fourth of our planet's supply
of water has been lost
• The Earth is losing a ton of atmosphere to the solar
wind every hour.

20. Is it possible that the Earth
replenishes its water from
space?
• Before satellites, we believed that Earth's magnetosphere was
supplied only with particles from the solar wind.
• Today we are starting to understand just how many interactions can
take place between the solar wind and the atmosphere.
• Over the poles all sorts of nuclei are accelerated into space .
• It maybe that much of our magnetosphere’s ions come our from
our atmosphere
• So, what is does the solar wind supply?
• How much plasma strikes the Earth?

21. Plasma Theory of Water as it applies to life on Earth
« Protons and alpha particles strike oxygen and nitrogen atoms, respectively and are
converted to water mostly over the poles. »
Christopher YUKNA
Since the nitrogen and oxygen gases in our atmosphere are biological in origin, the
water too is, at least maintained or created, thanks to life itself. These processes
seem to be a corollary to the Gaia principle.
A proton is a hydrogen atom. Therefore it is relatively easy to see that combining
protons with either molecules of oxygen, atomic oxygen, and ozone, the end result is
H2O or water.
What is trickier is to see any relation of water formation to alpha particles or helium,
an inert gas, and nitrogen not one of the most reactive of gases.
For that we will have to leave chemistry and enter the world of nuclear alchemy.

22. Ernest Rutherford the world’s first successful Alchemist!
In 1919, Rutherford was able to accomplish
transmutation of nitrogen into oxygen, using
alpha particles directed at nitrogen 14N + α →
17O + p.
Thus, helium, when stripped of its elections or
in a plasma state and accelerated towards an
atom of Nitrogen will produce an atom of
oxygen and one of hydrogen. These are the
components for one of the ions of water OH.
Remember, there will be plenty of water’s other
ion H. Even more so if that 17O loses a neutron in
the highly energetic environment of the upper
atmosphere for a neutron quickly decays into a
hydrogen atom.
Let’s backtrack a bit and look at ozone in the atmosphere to see if there is any
evidence for ozone being turned into water.

23. Let's look at Oxygen and Ozone in our atmosphere
and how these may produce water

24. Ozone Production
• Ultraviolet radiation from the sun continuously strikes the upper
atmosphere and splits O2 and N2 into separate atoms O & N
• The resulting atoms react quickly to with oxygen gas to form
ozone.
• X-rays can also produce atmospheric ozone.
• Ozone too can lose a oxygen atom in this process
• Since there is so much O2 around the ozone reforms rapidly.
• Of course this process and the resulting ozone layer protects life
on Earth from the harmful effects of this highly energetic light.
•

25. Ozone Destruction
• So ozone can lose a atom to high energy light but reforms
unless there is something other than oxygen to react with.
• Protons (hydrogen) bombard the atmosphere during solar
storms .
• These particles can knock off a oxygen atom too. (Radiolysis)
• Since hydrogen forms OH easily with atomic oxygen this
readily this stops the reformation of ozone.
• OH produced? Thus, all over the planet water is being
produced.
• See: a violent sun can effect the Earth's overall ozone

26. So tiny amounts of water can
come from space
• Big deal ...so what?
• How much water is typically created and is it enough to offset daily losses?
• What percentage of hydrogen is extraterrestrial?
• If you look only at the Birkeland currents flowing along geomagnetic field
lines that connect the Earth's magnetosphere to the upper reaches of the
ionosphere over the poles, then this looks a lot like a Bussard ramjet.
Nota Bene: Cosmic Rays are something like 80%
protons and would also be captured hydrogen in
an oxygen atmosphere. Free Hydrogen has a half
life of ______ in an atmosphere rich in oxygen.

27. Bussard Ramjet
•Invented by Dr. Robert W.
Bussard
•Works by magnetically scooping
interstellar hydrogen into the
spacecraft for use as propellant
The Earth’s magnetic field is more complicated than these images or a ramjet but the
principle is still the same hydrogen would be acquired. Thus, how to quantify the
amount of water produced?

28. Space Weather is fascinating
Coronal mass ejection
Aurores form when
plasma strikes the
atmosphere
The Solar wind is a stream of charged particles
released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. This
plasma consists of mostly electrons, protons and alpha
particles.
When the ejection is directed towards Earth (ICME),
the shock wave of the traveling mass of solar
energetic particles causes a geomagnetic storm that
may disrupt Earth's magnetosphere.

29. Solar Wind, Solar Flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections
• The solar wind has an average density of 7.1 atoms/cm3 “not too many. »
• Solar Flares can produce streams of highly energetic particles in the solar wind,
known as a solar proton event. These particles can impact the Earth's
magnetosphere. So better.
Coronal Mass Ejections are massive events, an
average CME has about the mass of Mount
Everest and stays more of less intact as it
moves through the solar system. “When the
ejection is directed towards Earth and reaches
it as an interplanetary CME (ICME), the shock
wave of the traveling mass of solar energetic
particles causes a geomagnetic storm …When
the magnetosphere reconnects on the
nightside, it releases power on the order of
terawatt scale, which is directed back toward
Earth's upper atmosphere”. Wikipedia
An Everest’s mass in hydrogen!

30. Proton Aurora
On June 28, 2000, IMAGE watched
a complicated and shifting ballet
between electron and proton
currents as they entered the
atmosphere from space above the
Arctic Region of Earth.
Proton auroras remain relatively unknown in
comparison with the better known electron
one. Their light is in the UV or higher and
thus were only discovered when the right
type of camera was used.

31. Note: the light is generated by collusions between atoms in the upper atmosphere
and the protons. There is no possibility of chemical reactions at such high
energies.. However, there is no reason to suppose that those protons stop at high
altitudes but would in fact continue to follow the magnetic lines of force down to
the planet’s surface losing energy as they do. At some point in time those particles
will be able to interact chemically with the Oxygen, Ozone, or Nitrogen.
This is not the case for alpha particles (helium nuclei) and nitrogen which could
produce OH molecules at any time via transmutation as long as the ions have
enough speed.
For example other than water Nitric acid would be easy to fabricate in this high
energy environment as its composition is NHO3. If hydrogen sulfide ejected into
the stratosphere by volcanoes or via the solar wind then its conversion to
sulphuric acid H₂SO₄ with two OHs & two Os and a sulphur atom in the center
seems facile as well.

32. If protons and alpha particles are concentrated over the poles then
shouldn't there be some evidence of water forming too?
There are mysterious Polar Mesospheric Clouds & Noctilucent clouds high
up over the poles.
The mystery is how did the water get up to an altitude of 85 or so kilometers?
However, long- term behaviour of polar mesospheric cloud frequency has been found
to vary inversely with solar activity nor is there any evidence of a dependence on
auroral activity (Thomas and Olivero, 1989). Probably at that height protons and
other ions are going too fast and have too much energy to form chemical bonds.

33. But this would not be the case for atomic transmution. Alpha particles striking
nitrogen should produce water at that altitude. Perhaps some of the water for
those clouds comes from helium nitrogen transmutation.
The question then is why only in summer and when solar activity is at its lowest?
Could it be that increased levels of Radiolysis would break up most ice molecules
during solar storms?
Anyway, as the protons and ions follow the magnetic lines of force towards the
Earth's surface like colliding billard balls they would lose energy and at some point
chemical bonds could form which brings us to:
Polar stratospheric clouds or PSCs, also known as nacreous clouds
(/ˈneɪkriː.əs/, from nacre, or mother of pearl, due to its iridescence), are
clouds in the winter polar stratosphere at altitudes of 15,000–25,000 meters
and contain water, nitric acid and/or sulfuric acid .

34. Polar stratospheric clouds
Here is a good case for the creation of
these clouds from the ionic polar
conditions . Their composition, H2O,
HNO3 , & H2SO4 almost begs for a
solarwind source. Especially interesting
since these clouds, PSCs, have been
implicated in the destruction of ozone
and of increasing the severity of the
Ozone Hole. Might it be the protons
and/or ions converting ozone into water
and other compounds. Sure the hole
could still be completely the fault of
(CFCs) but it becomes unlikelier.
Annual Antarctic ozone hole larger and formed later in 2015
Which was the fourth largest in history, this after the banning of ozone-depleting
chemicals in 20th century has yet to produce detectable improvements in the Antarctic
ozone hole. Perhaps, Chlorofluorocarbons are not the whole problem.

35. Above in 2015 the largest ozone in years & Solar Flares and Sun
Storms of 2015 Is there a link ?
In Nature: “60% of ozone destruction at the poles seems to be due to
an unknown mechanism” Markus Rex at AWI

36. Enough with the ozone controversy already!
Water’s weird properties & deuterium are key to
ascertaining this concept.
One of the great problems facing most theories of the origin of Earth’s oceans is the
characteristic ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in our water. Water on Earth is low in
deuterium. Venus and Mars are a lot higher.
Magnetically, there are two things you need to know about the ions of water:
• H and OH are incredibly mobile in magnetic fields. They move much more rapidly
than anticipated. (Would Hydrogen Sulfide’s ions H and HS move accordingly?)
•Deuterium and DH are not very effected when exposed to magnetic fields in other
words they move slowly or t least a lot slower than the more common isotope
hydrogen. They resist photodisassociation better too. Ergo:
In a plasma magnetically created oceans, the acquistion of hydrogen would be
favored over deuterium.
BTW The abundance of deuterium in the atmosphere of Jupiter measured by the
Galileo space probe as 26 atoms per million hydrogen atoms. ISO-SWS observations
find 22 atoms per million hydrogen atoms in Jupiter.[12] This is about 17% of the
terrestrial deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio of 156 deuterium atoms per million
hydrogen atoms. This is evidence again that Earth is losing water in a dynamic
system.

37. Earth’s Water Is Older Than the Sun
As the article cited and this artist’s conception seem to suggest: a certain
percentage of the Earth’s water already came from outer space. However, if you
read this article then notice that interstellar ice has a higher ratio of deuterium to
hydrogen than found on Earth.

38. Craters on our Moon and Mercury contain water
Video of areas on the Moon that
never recieve sunlight
How is this possible? Originally lunar water
was thought to be from the bombardment of
comets and left in the bottom of craters never
exposed to sunlight. Now we know that water
continuously produced on the surface by
hydrogen ions (protons) of the solar wind
impacting oxygen-bearing minerals.[15] The
same is true for Mercury.
If you just use occam's razor and realize that if plasma bombardment of
protons produces water on our nearest neighbor the Moon from oxides
then it stands to reason that you do not need another theory to explain
water on Earth with its ample supply of oxygen.
Just keep it simple.

39. Gaea’s Plasma Water’s Implications for Mars and Terraforming in general.
If photosynthesis could be established on Mars.:
• There would be an increase in Oxygen which would be transformed initially to
Ozone thus providing more protection against UV light.
• The atmosphere would be « stickier » and water would begin to accumulate and
less would be destroyed.
• This is not as farfetched as it sounds. Lichen can survive outside the space
station so Mars could be an even less hostile spot.
• There is the possibility that other ions like nitrogen, sulphur, carbon, etc could
also be acquired as levels of UV light and Radiolysis drop.
•There is some evidence that protons especially over the poles recapture oxygen
atoms separated from water by UV light.

40. That wraps it up for Earth’s semi-biological origin of water.
If an oxygen atmosphere and magnetic field are necessary for water formation
then when leaving Earth there should be other evidence for this idea besides
Mercury and the Moon. So we will explore more closely the water in rest of the
solar system. The next section again deals with the idea of ion bombardment
of surfaces. Could water and other componds be plasma coated onto
surfaces? Obviously, water is more stable the farther you are from the Sun,
but some features seem to require more of an explanation.
Some Questions to resolve:
• Why after billions of years is there still water on Venus?
• Okay Earth & Lunar water have intrinsic oxygen sources are there ways
to concentrate and paste oxygen and hydrogen onto a surface?
• Why are the rings of Saturn white?
• Why does Europa have such a smooth surface?
• Why is Io so sulphur rich?
• Why does the surface of Enceladus seem to be recent?

41. Venus has very little water. However,
It has an induced magnetosphere
as well as a very faint ozone layer.
Without an intrinsic magnetic field, the
atmosphere is bombarded with ions
and electrons from the solar wind.
Most of the atmosphere is composed
of carbon dioxide and about 3.5
nitrogen. Therefore, like on Earth
water should be produced when
protons have lost enough energy to
chemically connect with Oxygen or Ozone and again when alpha particles collide
with nitrogen atoms as long as they are traveling fast enough. Could this explain
why Venus still has water to lose? (The loss of significant amounts of hydrogen
is proved by a very high D/H ratio measured in the Venusian atmosphere
compared to the solar norm.) And these losses are on going. Sulphur ions could
also capture and trap hydrogen or atomic oxygen. H2S and Sulphric acid are
trace elements in the Venusian atmosphere. Including the effects of ion
bombardment might go along way in explaining the mystery of sulphur dioxide
layer in the upper atmosphere.

42. Some Examples of Water and Oxygen in our solar system
Hubble finds evidence of
oygen atmosphere on Jupiter’s
moon Europa
Tenuous Oxygen atmosphere
on Ganymede
Martian Ice Caps have
ozone layers
Oxygen found in Saturn’s E ring
Ganymede extremely thin
atmosphere composed of carbon
dioxide and probably molecular
oxygen with an ozone layer
atmosphere of Enceladus is
composed of 91% water vapor,
4% nitrogen, 3.2% carbon dioxide,
and 1.7% methane
Water ice seems to be ubiquitous
on the surface of Callisto. The
atmosphere is mostly CO2 with
perhaps some molecular oxygen

43. A brief look at abiotic processes for the formation of water in the Outer
solar system.
Remember:The basic premise is that some ions needed to form water are brought together to create or
deposit water on a surface. Plasma enhanced vapor deposition in vacuum is quite a common industrial
process so it seems reasonable that in space similar processes would work . See ion bombardment of
surfaces as well.
Water ice can be found in many places and the farther from the Sun the
better. The following are good candidates for plasma created or
maintained water: (just remember water ions abnormal property in magnetic fields)
• Europa (Induced magnetic field)
• Io (Induced magnetic field)
• Ganymede (magnetosphere) Ozone layer Aurorae
• Callisto (Induced magnetic field)
• Rings of Saturn
• Mars
• Enceladus Electrical Circuit Between Saturn and Enceladus
Titan Saturn’s largest moon is the odd man out, strangely water is absent and
while not having a magnetic field it is often magnetized by Saturn this maybe
a bit like Venus.
.

44. Why is Europia smooth ?
This moon has an oxygen atmosphere
and an induced magnetic field;
More importantly, Europa’s orbit is within the
magnetosphere of Jupiter. It is constantly
bombarded with radiation and charged
particles. Faint ultraviolet light from an aurora
were detected recently at the Europa’s South
Pole. Its surface is strangely smooth, could
this be because the surface is constanly being
bombarded and consequently coated by ions
and protons?
Would this deposit layer after layer of
compounds like water or hydrogen
sullfide over « geologic » time?
Jupiter’s magnetic field is 20,000 times
the strength of the Earth’s. It has all of
the features of earth’s magnetosphere
so perhaps a look at the composition of
our planet’s magnetic field.
Jupiter’s
variable
radiation
belts

45. Plasmaspheres, Van Allen Belts, & Ring Currents or Plasma Clouds
The plasmasphere,, is a region of the Earth's magnetosphere
consisting of low energy (cool) plasma. It is located above the
ionosphere.. Traditionally, the plasmasphere has been regarded
as a well behaved cold plasma with particle motion dominated
entirely by the geomagnetic field and hence corotating with the
Earth.
Van Allen Belts
Encircling the our planet and extending to latitudes nearly as far
as the Arctic Circle, the Van Allen belts form two, nested donuts of
particles. The inner belt contains 10 million-volt, high-energy
protons, oxygen nuclei, and alpha particles with the outer belt
containing mostly electrons. If it were cold enoughwould an object
traveling in this inner zone be coated with ice?
The Ring Current
The third component of near-Earth space is the ring current which
overlaps both the Van Allen belts and the plasmasphere from
8,000 to 30,000 kilometers from Earth. Ring current particles carry
energies of several thousand volts, but unlike Saturn's rings, they
do not flow in a complete ring around Earth. It is more prominent
on the night time side of Earth, and it is at its strongest, carrying
the most particles, during severe solar storm events which shake
Earth's magnetosphere

46. Jupiter's extensive magnetosphere
envelops its ring system and the orbits of
all four Galilean satellites. The energetic
particles break water (radiolysis ) into
oxygen and hydrogen, maintaining the thin
oxygen atmospheres of three of these icy
moons.
Europa creates a torus (Io does too)
of these ions in Jupiter’s magnetosphere
of mostly protons and water ions. Io’s
torus contains sulphur. Also, Io creates a
glowing auroral footprint near Jupiter’s
north and south poles.
Plasma tori created by Io and Europa
If we turn this idea on its head, could Jupiter’s
magnetosphere capture from the solar wind then
replenish these tori of charged particles and be
responsible for the coating of these four moons?
If you remember, the Earth’s Van Allen Belts were
organized roughly according to mass, with the lighter
electrons comprising the outer ring and the heavier
nuclei the inner ring.

47. Since an atom of Sulfur is more massive than
Oxygen wouldn’t its distribution in the magnetic
field tend to be towards the interior or nearer to
Jupiter? To say it in a different way. The more
massive the nuclei the more likely that its “orbit”
would be affected by gravity and the closer it
would be to the planet. In many ways this is
concept is similar to paper chromography?
This might explain why most of Io's surface is composed of
extensive plains coated with sulfur and sulfur dioxide frost. This
would clarify why there is very little water on Io compared to the
other three moons. Note: Io is a geologically active world with
the most active volcanoes in the solar system. Sulphur on
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto has been attributed to Io’s
vocanic emissions so ions get around.

48. Europa, Ganymede, Io, and even Callisto leave glowing
auroral footprints on Jupiter near the pole.
It would seem that there is evidence for "electroplating" of water and sulfur compounds
in the Jovian system.

49. Why are Saturn’s rings white or ice covered?
This does not seem to be an intriguing question till you look at the other rings

50. The Jovian ring system is faint and consists mainly of dust, having four main
components: a thick inner torus of particles known as the "halo ring"; a
relatively bright, exceptionally thin "main ring"; and two wide, thick and faint
outer "gossamer rings“. The rings of Neptune are made of extremely dark
material, likely organic compounds processed by radiation, similar to that
found in the rings of Uranus. The exception? A minor planet and centaur
Chariklo, with a diameter of about 250 kilometres, is the smallest object with
rings and the fifth ringed object ever discovered in the Solar System Its
bright ring system consists of two narrow and dense bands.

51. Fun Saturn Facts
• Its rings are close in, near or within the Roche limit
• The magnetic poles and rotational poles are aligned, in other words its north pole
and magnetic north pole are identical.
• Saturn has the third largest Magentosphere in the solar system
• There is a hexagon at the pole.
• Saturn has an electrical circuit with one of its moons Enceladus, but not with an
even closer moon Mimas.
Could ion bombardment coat dust particles in Saturn’s rings with water ice?
This appears to be pretty likely since unlike dark rings of Uranus and Neptune,
Saturn’s rings are in close to the planet and are inside its Van Allen Belts. There is
a dynamic rotating ring current around Saturn.The main particle populations in
Saturn's magnetosphere that contribute to the density and pressures in this ring
are the warm (few tens to few hundreds eV) and hot (few keV to few hundred
keV) water ions and protons. Or perhaps Enceladus is implicated.

52. Enceladus
There is an atmosphere composed of 91% water
vapor, 4% nitrogen, 3.2% carbon dioxide, and 1.7%
methane. Plus there are auroras, and an electrical
circuit from the moon to the magnetic poles of Saturn.
Is it just electrons or are protons and other heavier
ions being conveyed to the satellite’s surface as well?
expels around 250 kg of water vapour every second,
through a collection of jets from the south polar region
known as the Tiger Stripes .
Like the rings Enceladus is within or enters
the Van Allen Belts and Ring Current of its
parent planet’ magnetosphere. This satellite
also creates a water torus around its planet
and even rains water down on Saturn’s
atmosphere. Does this water also coat
Saturn’s rings?

53. Enceladus ‘ water torus. Water ions from this moon appear to dominate
all of Saturn’s Magnetosphere.

54. When you simplify a scientific problem a lot of
other mysteries are resolved as well.
Occam’s Razor does not prove theories but
sometimes it shows us where to dig
This seems to be the case with the plasma water theory. If
nothing else the hypotheses associated with this concept are
intriguing.

55. Some pertinent sites
Earlier Work:
Why is Mars Dry?
The Original Water Cycle
Follow the links in this presentation.
Even most of the images have
hyperlinks associated with them.
About the author:
Chris Yukna was born
in the antediluvian 50s,
had a paper route at 9,
sold Christmas cards door
to door at 11, and washed
dishes at 14. All these
enriching work experiences convinced him early on that he
was totally unsuited to working and therefore should
become a space cadet, mad scientist, or teacher.
He has three websites that he tries to update periodically:
Science General (fun with science)
Business Emporium (Esl business lessons & quizzes)
Totally Unorthodox (where he puts everything else)

56. Pertinent Vocabulary
• Protons = hydrogen atoms stripped of their electrons
• Protium = most common isotope of hydrogen
• Deuterium = heavier isotope of hydrogen with a neutron in the
nucleus, and less reactive in magnetic fields.
• Alpha Particle = a particle identical to a helium nucleus (wikipedia)
• Solar wind = mostly composed electrons, protons, and alpha particles
• Homeostasis is the property of a system in which variables are
regulated so that conditions remain stable and relatively constant.
• Radiolysis the breaking of chemical bonds by radiation.
• Photo-disassociation