This is a diagram of diffusion in the Uranian atmosphere.
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Diffusion in Uranus Atmosphere
The major gaseous constituent of the atmosphere is methane. At the uppermost reaches of the atmosphere, near the
thermosphere, methane gas breaks apart due to the influence of energetic photons or charged particles from the magnetosphere and the remnants combine with other gases to form more sophisticated atmospheric constituents such as ethane gas, acetylene, and diacetylene. These gases are heavier, and so move down in the atmosphere.
In regions of the atmosphere such as the stratosphere, where the temperature is cooler, these gases condense to form haze. At even lower altitudes clouds of methane, ethane, acetylene, and diacetylene form. At the bottom of the atmosphere, where the temperature warms significantly and transitions to the Uranian interior, the condensed crystals evaporate and devolve into the constituent methane and other parts. Methane returns to the top of the atmosphere by diffusion. This perpetual breakdown and assembly of methane and ethane is part of the evolution of Uranus and affects its weather.
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