Astrophysics (Index)About

cold trap

(layer of atmosphere that prevents a gas from escaping by freezing it)

An atmosphere's cold trap is a layer that is cold enough to freeze a gas rising into it that would otherwise escape. The frozen gas descends again and remains. On Earth, a cold trap at about 20 km traps water vapor.


The term cold trap is also used for a region on the surface of a planet or moon that remain cold enough to keep volatiles frozen, particularly those caused by a permanent shadow.


The term cold trap is also used for technological devices that remove or isolate some gas species from a gas mixture by condensing or freezing it through cooling it and/or changing its pressure.


(atmosphere,planets)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_trap_(astronomy)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cold_trap
http://burro.case.edu/Academics/Astr221/SolarSys/CompPlanet/venusmars.html
https://aasnova.org/2021/04/16/as-different-as-day-and-night/
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2021NatAs...5..169H/abstract
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006AGUFMSM43A1478C/abstract

Referenced by pages:
greenhouse effect
moon
water (H2O)

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