Context: Photon-dominated regions (PDRs) are expected to show a layered structure in molecular abundances and emerging line emission, which is sensitive to the physical structure of the region as well as the UV radiation illuminating it.
Aims: We aim to study this layering in the Orion Bar, a prototypical nearby PDR with a favorable edge-on geometry.
Methods: We present new maps of 2arcmin ×2arcmin fields at 14´´-23´´ resolution toward the Orion Bar in the SO 88-99, H2CO 5{15}-4{14}, 13CO 3-2, C2H 4{9/2}-3{7/2} and 4{7/2}-3{5/2}, C18O 2-1 and HCN 3-2 transitions.
Results: The data reveal a clear chemical stratification pattern. The C2H emission peaks close to the ionization front, followed by H2CO and SO, while C18O, HCN and 13CO peak deeper into the cloud. A simple PDR model reproduces the observed stratification, although the SO emission is predicted to peak much deeper into the cloud than observed while the H2CO peak is predicted to peak closer to the ionization front than observed. In addition, the predicted SO abundance is higher than observed while the H2CO abundance is lower than observed.
Conclusions: The discrepancies between the models and observations indicate that more sophisticated models, including production of H2CO through grain surface chemistry, are needed to quantitatively match the observations of this region.
