A window into atmospheric escape on early Mars provided by argon isotopes in a Martian meteorite

Willett, Chelsea D.; Cassata, William S.; Marks, Naomi E.

doi:10.1016/j.gca.2022.04.017

A window into atmospheric escape on early Mars provided by argon isotopes in a Martian meteorite

Journal Article · Sat Apr 23 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2022.04.017· OSTI ID:2278770

Willett, Chelsea D. ^[1]; Cassata, William S. ^[1]; Marks, Naomi E. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Novel analytical approaches to determining the trapped ³⁸Ar/³⁶Ar ratio of gases contained within Martian meteorites are presented and applied to the Martian regolith breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034 and paired stone NWA 11220. The resulting data indicate that extensive mass-dependent fractionation of atmospheric Ar may have occurred within 150 million years of planetary formation, ostensibly as a result of diffusion-limited hydrodynamic escape. The inferred fractional loss of Ar and lighter atmospheric constituents exceeds 50%. In conclusion, these data suggest that volatiles derived from planetary outgassing and/or impactors may dominate the present abundance of atmospheric Ar.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344

OSTI ID:: 2278770

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1960602

Report Number(s):: LLNL--JRNL-827258; 1042079

Journal Information:: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, Journal Name: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta Vol. 329; ISSN 0016-7037

Publisher:: Elsevier; The Geochemical Society; The Meteoritical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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