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Foreign inclusions in stony meteorites. II - Rare gases and oxygen isotopes in a carbonaceous chondritic xenolith in the Plainview gas-rich chondrite
Rare-gas isotopic analyses have been performed on lunar rocks 71135 and 71569. The conventional (Kr-81)-Kr cosmic-ray exposure ages are 103 + or - 3 m.y. for 71135 and 134 + or - 7 m.y. for 71569. An approach is outlined to deducing complex exposure histories from rare-gas data using depth profiles of the production rates of the cosmogenic rare-gas isotopes. Examination of the Xe isotopes by means of a 'concordia' plot suggests that 71569 may have a simple one-stage exposure history whereas 71135 has a more complex history. An attempt is made to construct exposure models for these two rocks which account for the abundances of all the cosmogenic rare gases, the Xe isotopic compositions, and the apparent (Kr-81)-Kr exposure ages. This study demonstrates the depreciation of (Kr-81)-Kr ages for rocks exposed at shallow depths, caused by the relatively rapid variation of the Kr-81 production as the rock is eroded. Possible implications of the tentative results for the formation age of the Central Cluster unit are discussed.
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Analysis of lunar soil samples returned by Apollo 11 and 12 flights are discussed. Isotopic studies of the rare gases from Apollo 11 flight lunar samples are presented. The lunar soil analyses indicated the following: (1) high concentrations of solar wind rare gases, (2) isotopic match between solar wind gases and gas components in gas-rich meteorites, and (3) rare gases attributable to spallation reactions induced in heavier nuclides by cosmic ray particles.
Hibonites from the CM meteorites Murchison, Murray, and Cold Bokkeveld, and hibonites and Ti-rich pyroxene from the CV chondrite Allende are studied. Electron microprobe measurements of major element concentrations and track and ion probe measurements of Mg and Ti isotopic ratios, rare earth elements (REEs), and trace element abundances are analyzed. Correlations between isotopic anomalies in Ti, Al-26, Pu-244, and Mg-26(asterisk) are examined. Ti isotopic anomalies are compared with REE and trace element abundance patterns. Reasons for the lack of Al-26 in the hibonites are investigated and discussed. It is observed that there is no correlation between the Ti isotopic compositions, and the presence of Mg-26(asterisk), Pu-244, and REE and trace element patterns in individual hibonite samples. The data reveal that hibonites are not interstellar dust grains but formed on a short time scale and in localized regions of the early solar system.
The degassing of the Earth during accretion is constrained by Pu-U-I-Xe systematics. Degassing was much more efficient during the first 100-200 Ma than subsequently, and it was more complete for Xe than for the lighter gases. More than 90 percent of the degassed Xe escaped from the atmosphere during this period. The combination of fractional degassing of melts and rare gas escape from the atmosphere is able to explain the deficit of terrestrial Xe as a simple consequence of this early degassing history. By the time Xe was quantitatively retained in the atmosphere, the abundances of Kr and the lighter gases in the Earth's interior were similar to or higher than the present-day atmospheric abundances. Subsequent transfer of these lighter rare gases into the atmosphere requires a high rate of post-accretion degassing and melt production. Considerations of Pu-U-Xe systematics suggest that relatively rapid post-accretion degassing was continued to ca. 4.1-4.2 Ga. The present-day degassing history of the Earth is investigated through consideration of rare gas isotope abundances. Although the Earth is a highly degassed body, depleted in rare gases by many orders of magnitude relative to their solar abundances, it is at the present-day losing primordial rare gases which were trapped at the time of accretion.
Rare earth trace element variations in anorthosite and quartz mangerite determined, using stable isotope dilution technique of analysis
All 23 stable rare gas isotopes in a mantle-derived aluminous Ti-rich amphibole, kaersutite, were measured, and the abundance pattern indicated by the results is similar to the 'planetary' rare gas pattern of carbonaceous chondrites. The He-3/He-4 ratio of (4.9 + or - 0.6) times 10 to the -5th power is anomalously high. Ne-21 is enriched relative to the abundance of the other two neon isotopes in the atmosphere, while the heavy isotopes of Kr and the Xe isotopes are within error of the atmospheric values. The analytical procedure is described. It is concluded that part of the primordial rare gases of the earth are still present in some parts of the upper mantle and that these gases retain a faithful record of the 'planetary' primordial rare gas elemental signature.
Enrichment of heavy O3 isotopes has been measured in collected stratospheric samples. A balloon-borne cryogenic sampler was used to gather six O3 samples between 26 and 35 km in three flights. Subsequent laboratory mass spectrometer analysis of rare O3 isotopes at both mass 49 and 50 has resulted in more precise measurements than have previously been reported with in situ and ground-based techniques. In one flight, (O-50)3 was enriched by 12-16 percent and (O-49)3 by 9-11 percent, both increasing with altitude. In the remaining two flights, the isotope enrichment was nearly mass-independent at 8-9 percent. The enrichments in O3 at mass 50 are less than the large 40 percent value observed in some stratospheric measurements but similar to (O-49)3 and (O-50)3 fractionations produced in laboratory-generated ozone.
Nd isotopic data indicate that most Archean igneous rocks including compositions ranging from komatiite to tonalite are derived from undepleted or depleted upper mantle sources. If sampling is representative, only a few require enriched sources. A major unresolved question is the fate of the material removed from the upper mantle leaving early depleted sources as residue. One possibility is that widespread depletion of the early mantle resulted from a period of early degassing and magmatism. Rare gas isotopic data, in particular 129Xe/130Xe ratios, seem to demand that the upper mantle was extensively degassed at or before 4.4 b.y. and this led to rapid growth of the atmosphere and oceans. The lower mantle, however, was not significantly degassed during this event. It is likely that such widespread degassing and magmatism of the upper mantle transferred significant quantities of incompatible elements into the uppermost mantle or crust. Once formed, such an enriched fraction should resist recycling into the mantle and collect at or near the Earth's surface. One possibility is that it collects chiefly in a zone of partial melting, analogous to the present low-velocity zone at the base of the lithosphere.
Radioactive nuclide activity levels and mass spectrometric measurements of rare gas isotopes in fragments of Bondoc mesosiderite
Cosmic ray produced radionuclides and rare gas isotopes from Saint-Severin meteorite surface, showing relative Kr spallation mass yields dependence on cosmic ray energy spectra
The principles and the potential of the Ar-39/Ar-40 dating technique are illustrated by means of results obtained for 12 Apollo 17 rocks. Emphasis is given to methodical problems and the geological interpretation of lunar rock ages. Often it is ambigious to associate a given lunar breccia with a certain formation, or a formation with a basin. In addition, large-scale events on the Moon have not necessarily reset radiometric clocks completely. One rock fragment has a well-defined plateau age of 4.28 b.y., but the ages of two Apollo 17 breccias define an upper limit for the formation age of the Serenitatis basin at 4.05 b.y. Ages derived from five mare basalts indicate cessation of mare volcanism at Taurus-Littrow approximately 3.78 b.y. ago. Ca/Ar-37 exposure ages show that Camelot Crater was formed by an impact approximately 95 m.y. ago. After a short summary of the lunar timetable as it stands at the end of the Apollo program, we report about Ar-39/Ar-40 and rare gas studies on the Malvern meteorite. This achondrite resembles lunar highland breccias in texture as well as in rare-gas patterns. It was strongly annealed at some time between 3.4 and 3.8 b.y. ago. The results indicate that very similar processes have occurred on the Moon and on achondritic parent bodies at comparable times, leading to impact breccias with strikingly similar features, including the retention of rare-gas isotopes from various sources.
C-14 was measured in grain-size fractions of lunar soil 10084 and in samples of the Bruderheim chondrite and of several meteorites recently found in Antarctica (Allan Hills no. 5, 6, and 8). Temperature-release patterns were investigated. It was found that C-14 is released at temperatures below melting from small soil grains (less than 74 microns), but not from meteorites or from large soil grains. Below-melting C-14 contents increase with decreasing grain size in a manner similar to solar-wind-implanted rare-gas isotope contents (Eberhardt et al., 1970), whereas the C-14 released above melting temperatures is independent of grain size, suggesting that below-melting C-14 is solar-wind-implanted and above-melting C-14 is the result of cosmic ray spallations. The activity of C-14 in lunar samples is half that measured in the Bruderheim meteorite, which fell on May 4, 1970. No C-14 activity was observed in the Allan Hills chondrites; the C-14 limits suggest that these meteorites fell more than 25,000 years ago.
An instrument to measure the isotopic abundances of cosmic ray nuclei with Z in the range 20-30 and A in the range 40-70 has been conceived. The instrument, named SPIRIT (Superconducting Passive Iron Isotope Telescope), will have the mass resolution (sigma less than 0.15 amu) and collecting power (151 sq m ster h for a 10 day flight) to detect and convincingly resolve isotopes as rare as 0.5% of the total abundance of each element. Both range and magnetic rigidity are measured by following tracks through an array of sheets of CR-39, a sensitive new track-recording plastic, which had been kept in fixed position at uniform temperature within the uniform field region of a large superconducting magnet.
Stoichiometric mixture converted completely. High-energy pulsed CO2 lasers have potential for measuring many different features of atmosphere of Earth and particularly useful on airborne or space platforms. For this application, laser must be operated in closed cycle to conserve gas, especially if rare nonradioactive isotopes of carbon and oxygen used. However, laser discharge decomposes fraction of CO2 to CO and O2, causing rapid loss in power leading to erratic behavior. To maintain operation, CO and O2 must be recombined to form CO2.
Recent geochemical, isotopic, and rare gas studies suggest that eight SNC meteorites originated on the planet Mars. Since Martian rocks are found on Earth, consideration is being given to finding Earth rocks on Mars. Detailed consideration of the mechanism by which these meteorites were lofted into space strongly suggest that the process of stress-wave spallation near a large impact with, perhaps, an assist from vapor plume expansion, is the fundamental process by which lightly-shocked rock debris is ejected into interplanetary space. The theory of spall ejection was used to examine the mass and velocity of material ejected from the near vicinity of an impact. It seems likely that the half-dozen largest impact events on Earth would have ejected considerable masses of near surface rocks into interplanetary space. No computations were performed to indicate how long Earth ejecta would take to reach Mars.
It is a truth almost universally acknowledged that Earth’s atmosphere before about 2.5 billion years ago had little or no free oxygen. The classic argument for anoxia on ancient Earth is that a distinct change occurred in the oxidation state of many surface rocks and minerals around the end of the Archaean eon (which lasted from 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago). A more recent argument is that a sudden, permanent change in the relative abundances of rare sulfur isotopes preserved in sediments also occurred at that time — a change that can be linked to differences in sulfur’s atmospheric chemistry in the presence or absence of oxygen. These arguments are strong. It therefore comes as a surprise that melted meteor fragments recovered from Archaean limestone indicate that the contemporaneous atmosphere above 75 kilometres was highly oxidized, as reported by Tomkins et al. on page 235.