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We review the sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds have been observed. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is the major sulfur-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets and is removed from their observable atmospheres by condensation into cloud layers (NH4SH on all four planets and additionally H2S ice on Uranus and Neptune). Any remaining H2S at higher altitudes is destroyed photochemically. Among the moons–or any other object in the solar system–Io is the world dominated by sulfur. We summarize the sulfur cycle on Io and how Io’s “pyrovolcanism” is spreading sulfur across the Jovian system. Implantation of sulfur into the icy surfaces of the other Galilean moons via magnetospheric transfer and radiolysis are the dominant processes affecting the sulfur chemistry on their icy surfaces. On the icy worlds, we are literally looking at the top of the icebergs. Subsurface liquid salty bodies reveal themselves through cryovolcanism on Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus, where salt deposits are indicated. Subsurface oceans are suspected on several other moons. We summarize the sulfur cycle for the icy Galilean moons. The occurrence of sulfates can be explained by salt exchange reactions of radiolytically produced H2SO4 with brine salts such as carbonates and halides, or from a subsurface ocean that has become acidified by uptake of H2SO4 leaked from ice over time. In the primordial oceans of the moons, that accreted with high ice rock ratios, sulfur is expected in the form of sulfide and bisulfide anions together with H2S in an aqueous solution. Considering various cosmochemical constraints, we suggest that in addition to pyrrhotite, tochilinite and green rusts could be important sulfide bearing compounds that reside together with hydrous silicates, such as serpentine and magnetite, on the ocean’s sea floors. In nitrogen-carbon rich worlds, such as Titan, sulfides, such as NH4SH and possibly thiazyl compounds, could be important, and sulfates are unstable. Nothing is known about the sulfur chemistry on the Uranian and Neptunian moons.

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Sulfur in the Giant Planets, Their Moons, and Extrasolar Gas Giant Planets

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Katharina Lodders,
  • Bruce Fegley

摘要

We review the sulfur chemistry of the gas giant planets and their moons where sulfur compounds have been observed. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is the major sulfur-bearing gas in the upper atmospheres of the giant planets and is removed from their observable atmospheres by condensation into cloud layers (NH4SH on all four planets and additionally H2S ice on Uranus and Neptune). Any remaining H2S at higher altitudes is destroyed photochemically. Among the moons–or any other object in the solar system–Io is the world dominated by sulfur. We summarize the sulfur cycle on Io and how Io’s “pyrovolcanism” is spreading sulfur across the Jovian system. Implantation of sulfur into the icy surfaces of the other Galilean moons via magnetospheric transfer and radiolysis are the dominant processes affecting the sulfur chemistry on their icy surfaces. On the icy worlds, we are literally looking at the top of the icebergs. Subsurface liquid salty bodies reveal themselves through cryovolcanism on Europa, Ganymede, and Enceladus, where salt deposits are indicated. Subsurface oceans are suspected on several other moons. We summarize the sulfur cycle for the icy Galilean moons. The occurrence of sulfates can be explained by salt exchange reactions of radiolytically produced H2SO4 with brine salts such as carbonates and halides, or from a subsurface ocean that has become acidified by uptake of H2SO4 leaked from ice over time. In the primordial oceans of the moons, that accreted with high ice rock ratios, sulfur is expected in the form of sulfide and bisulfide anions together with H2S in an aqueous solution. Considering various cosmochemical constraints, we suggest that in addition to pyrrhotite, tochilinite and green rusts could be important sulfide bearing compounds that reside together with hydrous silicates, such as serpentine and magnetite, on the ocean’s sea floors. In nitrogen-carbon rich worlds, such as Titan, sulfides, such as NH4SH and possibly thiazyl compounds, could be important, and sulfates are unstable. Nothing is known about the sulfur chemistry on the Uranian and Neptunian moons.