Abstract
We discuss observed xenon isotopic signatures in solar system reservoirs and possible relationships. The predominant trapped xenon component in ordinary chondrites (OC) is OC-Xe and its isotopic signature differs from Xe in ureilites, in carbonaceous chondrites, in the atmospheres of Earth and Mars, and in the solar wind. Additional minor Xe components were identified in type 3 chondrites and in the metal phase of chondrites. The OC-Xe and ureilite signatures are both consistent with varying mixtures of HL-Xe and slightly mass fractionated solar-type Xe. Xenon in the Martian atmosphere is found to be strongly mass fractionated by 37.7‰ per amu, relative to solar Xe, favoring the heavy isotopes. Xenon in SNC’s from the Martian mantle show admixture of solar-type Xe, which belongs to an elementally strongly fractionated component. The origin of the isotopic signatures of Ne and Xe in the terrestrial atmosphere are discussed in the light of evidence that the Xe isotopic fractionations in the Martian and terrestrial atmospheres are consistent. However, in the terrestrial atmospheric Xe component excesses are observed for132Xe and also for129,131Xe, relative to fractionated solar Xe. The suggested chemically fractionated fission Xe component (CFF-Xe) seems to closely match the above excesses. We discuss models of origin for planetary volatiles and possible processes driving their evolution to present day compositions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alaerts L, Lewis R S and Anders E 1979 Isotopic anomalies of noble gases in meteorites and their origins. IV. C3 (Ornans) carbonaceous chondrites;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 43 1421–1432
Allègre C J, Sarda P, and Staudacher T 1993 Speculations about the cosmic origin of He and Ne in the interior of the Earth;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 117 229–233
Allègre C J, Staudacher T, and Sarda P 1986/87 Rare gas systematics: formation of the atmosphere, evolution and structure of the Earth’s mantle;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 81 127–150
Anderson D L 1993 Helium-3 from the mantle: Primordial signal or cosmic dust?;Science 261 170–176
Bachiller R 1996 Bipolar molecular outflows from young stars and protostars;Ann. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 34 111–154
Benz W and Cameron A G W 1990 Terrestrial effects of the giant impact; inOrigin of the Earth (eds) H E Newsom and J H Jones (Oxford Univ. Press) pp. 61–67
Becker R H and Pepin R O 1984 The case for a Martian origin of the shergottites: Nitrogen and noble gases in EETA 79001;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 69 225–242
Bernatowicz T J and Fahey A J 1986 Xe isotopic fractionation in a cathedeless glow discharge;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 50 445–452
Bernatowicz T J and Podosek F A 1986 Adsorption and isotopic fractionation of Xe;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 50 1503–1507
Burnard P, Graham D, and Turner G 1997 Vesicle-specific noble gas analyses of “popping rock”: Implications for primordial noble gases in Earth;Science 276 568–571
Butler W A, Jeffery P M, Reynolds J H, and Wasserburg G J 1963 Isotopic variations in terrestrial xenon;J. Geophys. Res. 68 3283–3291
Crabb J and Anders E 1981 Noble gases in E-chondrites;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 45 2443–2464
Eberhardt P, Geiss J, Graf H, Grögler N, Mendia M D, Mörgeli M, Schwaller H, Stettier A, Krähenbühl U and von Gunten H R 1972 Trapped solar wind noble gases in Apollo 12 lunar fines 12001 and Apollo 11 breccia 10046;Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 3rd 1821–1856
Farley K A and Craig H 1994 Atmospheric Argon contamination of ocean island basalt olivine phenocrysts;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 58 2509–2517
Farley K A and Poreda R J 1993 Mantle Neon and atmospheric contamination;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 114 325–339
Feigelson E D, Casanova S, Montmerle T and Guibert J 1993 Rosat X-ray study of the Chamaeleon I dark cloud. I. The stellar population;Astrophys. J. 416 623–646
Honda M, McDougall I, Patterson D B, Doulgeris A and Clague D A 1991 Possible solar noble-gas component in Hawaiian basalts;Nature 349 149–151
Heymann D and Mazor E 1968 Noble gases in unequilibrated ordinary chondrites;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 32 1–19
Huss G R 1990 Ubiquitous interstellar diamond and SiC in primitive chondrites: abundances reflect metamorphism;Nature 347 159–162
Huss G R, Lewis R S and Hemkin S 1996 The “normal planetary” noble gas component in primitive chondrites: Compositions, carrier, and metamorphic history;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 60 3311–3340
Igarashi G 1995 Primitive-xenon in the Earth; inVolatiles in the earth and solar system (ed) K A Farley (American Institute of Physics) pp. 70–80
Ip W H 1984 Magnetic field amplification in the solar nebula through interaction with the T-Tauri wind;Nature 312 625–626
Ip W H 1995 Cosmic ray acceleration by protostellar winds in the Orion molecular complex;Astron. Astrophys. 300 283–288
Jakosky B M, Pepin R O, Johnson R E and Fox J L 1994 Mars atmospheric loss and isotopic fractionation by solar-windinduced sputtering and photochemical escape;Icarus 111 271–288
Kim J S and Marti K 1992 Solar-type xenon: Isotopic abundances in Pesyanoe;Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. 22 145–151
Kunz J, Staudacher T and Allègre C J 1998 Plutonium-fission xenon found in earth’s mantle;Science 280 877–880
Lavielle B and Marti K 1992 Trapped xenon in ordinary chondrites;J. Geophys. Res. (Planets) 97 20875–20881
Levskii L K, Fedorova I V and Yakovleva S Z 1971 Distribution of inert gases in chondrites;Geokhimiya 5 515–522
Lupton J E 1983 Terrestrial inert gases: Isotope tracer studies and clues to primordial components in the mantle;Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 11 371–414
Marti K 1967 Trapped xenon and the classification of chondrites;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2 193–196
Marti K, Kim J S, Lavielle B, Pellas P and Perron C 1989 Xenon in chondritic metal;Z. Naturforsch. 44a 963–967
Marti K, Kim J S, Thakur A N, McCoy T J and Keil K 1995 Signatures of the Martian Atmosphere in glass of the Zagami meteorite;Science 267 1981–1984
Marty B and Allè P 1994 Neon and Argon isotopic constraints on Earth-atmosphere evolution; inNoble Gas Geochem. Cosmochem. (ed. Matsuda J.) (Terra Scientific Publishing Company) pp. 191–204
Mathew K J, Kim J S and Marti K 1998 Martian atmospheric and indigenous components of xenon and nitrogen in the Shergotty, Nakhla, and Chassigny group meteorites;Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 33 655–664
Meshik A, Hohenberg C, Kehm K, Swan P, and Dymkov Yu 1997 Chemically fractionated fission (CFF) Xe in Okelobondo (zone 13 of Oklo): Implications for the origin of terrestrial xenon;Lunar Planet. Sci. 28 943–944
Michel Th and Eugster O 1994 Primitive xenon in diogenites and Plutonium -244-fission xenon ages of a diogenite, a howardite and eucrites;Meteoritics 29 593–606
Moniot R K 1980 Noble-gas-rich separates from ordinary chondrites;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 44 253–271
Murty S V S and Mohapatra R K 1997 Nitrogen and heavy noble gases in ALH84001: Signatures of ancient Martian atmosphere;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 61 5417–5428
Ott U 1988 Noble gases in SNC meteorites: Shergotty, Nakhla, Chassigny;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 52 1937–1948
Ozima M 1975 Ar isotopes and Earth-atmosphere evolution models;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 39 1127–1140
Ozima M and Zahnle K 1993 Mantle degassing and atmospheric evolution — noble gas view;Geochem. J. 27 185–200
Ozima M, Wieler R, Marty B and Podosek F A 1998 Comparative studies of solar, Q-gases and terrestrial noble gases, and implications on the evolution of the solar nebula;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 6b2 301–314
Pepin R O 1997 Evolution of Earth’s noble gases: consequences of assuming hydrodynamic loss driven by giant impact;Icarus 126 148–156
Pepin R O 1992 Origin of noble gases in the terrestrial planets;Ann. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 20 389–430
Pepin R O 1991 On the origin and early evolution of terrestrial planet atmospheres and meteoritic volatiles;Icarus 92 2–79
Pepin R O and Phinney D 1978 Components of xenon in the solar system; Univ. of Minnesota Space Science Center
Phinney D, Tennyson J and Frick U 1978 Xenon in CO2 well gas revisited;J. Geophys. Res. 83 2313–2319
Ponganis K V, Graf T, and Marti K 1997 Isotopic fractionation in low-energy ion implantation;J. Geophys. Res. (Planets) 102 19335–19343
Porcelli D and Wasserburg G J 1994 A unified model for terrestrial rare gases; inVolatiles in the earth and solar system (ed) K A Farley (American Institute of Physics) pp. 56–69
Poreda R J and Farley K A 1992 Rare gases in Samoan xenoliths;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 113 129–144
Sarda P, Staudacher T and Allègre C J 1988 Neon isotopes in submarine basalts;Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 91 73–88
Schelhaas N, Ott U and Begemann F 1990 Trapped noble gases in unequilibrated ordinary chondrites;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 54 2869–2882
Shu F H, Shang H and Lee T 1996 Toward an astrophysical theory of chondrites;Science 271 1545–1552
Shukolyukov Yu A, Fugzan M M, Assonov S S, Koloskov M V, Fisenko A V and Semenova L F 1994 Xe and Kr isotope anomalies in Sikhote-Alin’ iron meteorite inclusions;Geokhimiya 10 1379–1392 (translation:Geochemistry International 31(5) 1–14)
Signer P and Suess H E 1963 Rare gases in the sun, in the atmosphere, and in meteorites; inEarth Science and Meteorites (eds) J Geiss and E D Goldberg (Amsterdam: North-Holland) pp. 241–272
Takaoka N 1972 An interpretation of general anomalies of xenon and the isotopic composition of primitive xenon;Mass Spectrosc. 20 287–302
Valkiers S, Aregbe Y, Taylor P D P and De Bièvre P 1998 A primary xenon isotopic standard with SI traceable values for isotopic composition and molar mass;Int. J. Mass Spectr. and Ion Processes 173 55–63
Wetherill G W 1981 Solar wind origin of36Ar on Venus;Icarus 46 70–80
Wieler R and Baur H 1994 Krypton and xenon from the solar wind and solar energetic particles in two lunar ilmenites of different antiquity;Meteoritics 29 570–580
Wieler R, Anders E, Baur H, Lewis R S and Signer P 1992 Characterisation of Q-gases and other noble gas components in the Murchison meteorite;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 56 2907–2921
Wilkening L L and Marti K 1976 Rare gases and fossil particle tracks in the Kenna ureilite;Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 40 1465–1473
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marti, K., Mathew, K.J. Noble gas components in planetary atmospheres and interiors in relation to solar wind and meteorites. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth Planet Sci.) 107, 425–431 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02841608
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02841608