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Trapping of xenon in ice - Implications for the origin of the earth's noble gasesAlthough the earth's atmosphere contains Ne, Ar, and Kr in about C1,2-chondrite proportions, Xe is depleted about 20-fold. To test the suggestion that the 'missing' Xe is trapped in Antarctic ice, distribution coefficients for Xe in artifically formed frost at -20 to -60 C were measured, using Xe-127 tracer. The values are 0.098 + or - 0.004 cc STP/g atm for trapping and less than 5 cc STP/g atm for trapping plus adsorption. If these results are representative of natural ice, then the Antarctic ice cap contains less than 1 percent of the atmospheric Xe inventory, or not greater than about 0.001 the amount needed for a C1,2-chondrite pattern. Two possibilities remain for the 'missing' Xe, both on the premise that the earth's noble gases, along with other volatiles, came from chondritic material: (1) xenon is preferentially retained in the mantle and lower crust, due to the strong affinity of Xe for clean silicate surfaces and amorphous carbon; and (2) the source material of the earth's volatiles had high, relatively unfractionated, Ar/Xe and Kr/Xe ratios, like the non-carbonaceous noble gas carriers in C3O and E-chondrites.
Document ID
19850037922
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wacker, J. F.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Anders, E.
(Chicago, University Chicago, IL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
November 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
Volume: 48
ISSN: 0016-7037
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
85A20073
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF EAR-82-12355
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG9-52
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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