Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical

formula CH₄. It is a group-14 hydride and the simplest

alkane, and is the main constituent of natural gas.
Methane is an odorless, colorless, flammable gas.
It is used primarily as fuel to make heat and light.
It is also used to manufacture organic chemicals.
Methane can be formed by the decay of natural
materials and is common in landfills, marshes,
septic systems and sewers
METHANE is a possible signal that life may exist.
Methane is easily destroyed, at least on a timescale
of years, not decades. If you see methane around,
something is creating it. It cannot be left over from
distant creation. And one of the commonest creators
of methane is, in a general sense, life. So if there is
methane around, it might be a signal of life.
BAD EFFECTS OF METHANE
Methane is also a greenhouse gas (GHG), so its
presence in the atmosphere affects the earth's
temperature and climate system. It is emitted from
a variety of anthropogenic (human-influenced) and
natural sources. It is more than 25 times as potent
as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the
atmosphere
For approx. 15 years ago, one could for the first
time read about methane in Mars's atmosphere.
This aroused great interest, also outside the
scientific circles, since methane, based on our
knowledge of methane on Earth, is considered a
bio-signature, i.e. signs of biological activity and
thus life.
In subsequent years, one could read
articles that alternately reported on
methane's presence and absence.
This variation led to doubts about the
accuracy of the first methane
measurements.
For years, the multidisciplinary Mars
group has investigated the importance of
wind-driven erosion of minerals for the
formation of reactive surfaces under
Mars-like conditions.
Minerals such as basalt and plagioclase, the
researchers have shown that these solids can be
oxidized and gases are ionized during the erosion
processes. Thus, the ionized methane reacts with
the mineral surfaces and bonds to them. It has
shown that the carbon atom, such as methyl
group from methane, directly binds to the silicon
atom in plagioclase, which is also a dominant
component of Mars' surface material.
By this mechanism, which is much more
effective than photochemical processes,
methane could be removed from the
atmosphere within the observed time and then
deposited in the Martian source soil.
These mineral surfaces can lead to the
formation of reactive chemicals such as
hydrogen peroxide and oxygen radicals, which
are very toxic to living organisms, incl.
bacteria.
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