>>11144429OR the effect is being produced by some unexplained geological mechanism, but so far nothing really fits.
The oxygen could be atmospheric degradation of CO2 or H2O, but there’s not nearly enough atmospheric H2O and CO2 takes too long; likewise, that can’t explain how quickly it seems to be going away.
It might be some unknown aspect of martian soil chemistry, like hydrogen peroxide or perchlorates, but that also doesn’t explain the drop.
The fact that the methane and o2 are fluctuating in tandem is pretty compelling.
