Nitrogen escape from Mars

The escape rate of nitrogen from Mars is calculated to be 2.3 x 10 to the 5th per sec for low solar flux conditions and 8.9 x 10 to the 5th per sec for high solar flux conditions. The major source of energetic atoms is dissociative recombination of ground state and vibrationally excited N2(+) ions. The measured N-15/N-14 isotope ratio can be reproduced by postulating an early dense atmosphere during which little differentiation occurred.