When the atmosphere becomes too saturated with methane, a stable layer is developed, which stops heat from rising to the surface and prevents storms from forming.
These layers are located throughout all latitudes of Neptune and the equator and mid-latitudes of Uranus.
The poles of Uranus do not have enough methane to produce a stable layer. Therefore, heat can reach the surface easily and generate larger storms. On the contrary, Neptune has more methane overall.
Occasionally, the methane can rise from the stable layer and spread through the atmosphere, allowing heat to flow and superstorms to emerge before everything stabilizes again.
More research will be needed to improve our understanding of all the chemical interactions in the atmospheres of these ice giants. It could even help further our knowledge of how planets outside of our solar system operate.
The paper was published in the preprint database arXiv.
