Abstract
MODELS that trace the origin of noble gases in the atmospheres of the terrestrial planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) to the 'planetary component' in chondritic meteorites confront several problems. The 'missing' xenon in the atmospheres of Mars and Earth (Fig. 1) is one of the most obvious; this gas is not hidden or trapped in surface materials1. On Venus, the absolute abundances of neon and argon per gram of rock are higher even than those in carbonaceous chondrites, whereas the relative abundances of argon and krypton are closer to solar than to chondritic values (there is only an upper limit on xenon)2 (Fig. 1). Pepin3 has developed a model that emphasizes hydrodynamic escape of early, massive hydrogen atmospheres to explain the abundances and isotope ratios of noble gases on all three planets. We have previously suggested that the unusual abundances of heavy noble gases on Venus might be explained by the impact of a low-temperature comet4–6. Further consideration of the probable history of the martian atmosphere7, the noble-gas data from the (Mars-derived) SNC meteorites8–10 and laboratory experiments on the trapping of noble gases in ice6,11,12 lead us to propose here that the noble gases in the atmospheres of all of the terrestrial planets are dominated by a mixture of an internal component and a contribution from impacting icy planetesimals (comets). If true, this hypothesis illustrates the importance of impacts in determining the volatile inventories of these planets.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Rent or buy this article
Prices vary by article type
from$1.95
to$39.95
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wacker, J. F. & Anders, E. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta. 48, 2373–2380 (1984).
Hoffman, J. H., Oyama, V. I. & von Zahn, U. J. geophys. Res. 85, 7871–7881 (1980).
Pepin, R. O. Icarus 92, 2–79 (1991).
Owen, T. in Workshop on the Evolution of the Martian Atmosphere LPl Tech. Rep. 86–07 (eds Carr, M., James, P., Leovy, C. & Pepin, R.) 31–32 (Lunar and Planetary Science Institute, Houston, 1986).
Hunten, D. M., Pepin, R. O. & Owen, T. in Meteorites and the Early Solar System (eds Kerridge, J. F. & Matthews, M. S.) 565–591 (Univ. of Arizona Press, 1988).
Owen, T., Bar-Nun, A. & Kleinfeld, I. in Comets in the Post-Halley Era (eds Newburn. R. Jr, Neugebauer, M. & Rahe, J.) 429–438 (Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991).
Owen, T. in Mars (eds Kieffer, H., Jakosky, B., Snyder, C. & Matthews, M.) (Univ. of Arizona Press, in the press).
Wiens, R. C., Becker, R. H. & Pepin, R. O. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 77, 149–159 (1986).
Ott, U. & Begemann, F. Nature 317, 509–512 (1985).
Ott, U. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 52, 1937–1948 (1988).
Laufer, D., Kochavi, E. & Bar-Nun, A. Phys. Rev. B36, 9219–9227 (1987).
Bar-Nun, A., Kleinfeld, J. & Kochavi, E. Phys. Rev. B38, 7749–7754 (1988).
Wetherill, G. W. in Mercury (eds Vilas, F., Chapman, C. R. & Matthews, M. S.) 670–691 (Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, 1988); A. Rev. Earth planet. Sci. 18, 205–256 (1990).
Cameron, A. G. W. Icarus 56, 195–201 (1983).
Melosh, J. & Vickery, A. Nature 338, 487–489 (1989).
Stolper, E. M. & McSween, H. Y. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 43, 1475 (1979).
Stolper, E. M., McSween, H. Y. & Hays, J. F. Geochim. cosmochim. Acta 42, 589 (1978).
Bogard, D. D. & Johnson, P. Science 221, 651–654 (1983).
Ott, U., Löhr, H. P. & Begemann, F. Meteorites 23, 295–296 (1988).
Watson, L. L. Ihinger, P. D., Epstein, S. & Stolper, E. M. Proc. Lunar planet. Sci. Conf. (in the press).
Musselwhite, D. S., Drake, M. J. & Swindle, T. D. Nature 352, 697–699 (1991).
Oro, J. Nature 190, 389–390 (1961).
Sill, G. & Wilkening, L. Icarus 33, 13–22 (1978).
Chyba, C. Nature 330, 632–635 (1987).
Ip, W.-H. & Fernandez, J. A. Icarus 74, 47–61 (1988).
Boss, E. G., Morfil, G. E. & Tscharnuter, W. M. in Orígin and Evolution of Planetary Satellite Atmospheres (eds Atreya, S. K., Pollack, J. B. & Matthews, M. S.) 35 (Univ. of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1989).
Lunine, J. I., Engel, S., Rizek, B. & Horanyi, M. Icarus 94, 333 (1991).
Bar-Nun, A. & Kleinfeld, I. Icarus 80, 243–253 (1989).
Kaneoka, I., Takaoda, N. & Clague, D. A. Earth planet Sci. Lett. 66, 427–437 (1983).
Studacher, T., Kunz, M. D. & Allegre, C. J. Chem. Geol. 56, 193–205 (1986).
Hart, R., Dymond, J., Hogan, L. & Schilling, J. G. Nature 305, 403 (1983).
Wetherill, G. W. Icarus 46, 70–80 (1981).
Clayton, R. N. & Mayeda, T. K. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 62, 1–6 (1983).
Meech, K. J. & Belton, M. J. S. IAU Circ No. 4770, 11 April 1989.
Luu, J. X. & Jewitt, D. C. Astr. J. 100, 913–932 (1990).
Bus, S. J., A'Hearn, M. F., Schleicher, D. G. & Bowell, F. Science 251, 774–777 (1991).
Craig, H. & Lupton, J. E. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 31, 369–385 (1987).
Honda, M., McDougall, I., Patterson, D. B., Doulgeris, A. & Clague, D. A. Nature 349, 149–151 (1991).
McElroy, M. B. Science 175, 443–445 (1972).
Fox, J. in Dissociative Recombination: Theory, Experiment and Applications (eds Mitchell, J. B. A. & Guberman, F. L.) 264–281 (World Scientific, Singapore, 1989).
Stern, S. A., Green, J. C., Cash, W. & Cook, T. A. Icarus 95, 157–161 (1992).
Biemann, K., Owen, T., Rushneck, D. R., LaFleur, A. L. & Howarth, D. W. Science 194, 76–78 (1976).
Zahnle, K., Kasting, J. F. & Pollack, J. B. Icarus 84, 502–527 (1990).
Owen, T. et al. J. geophys. Res. 82, 4635–4639 (1977).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Owen, T., Bar-Nun, A. & Kleinfeld, I. Possible cometary origin of heavy noble gases in the atmospheres of Venus, Earth and Mars. Nature 358, 43–46 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/358043a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/358043a0
This article is cited by
-
Protoplanetary Disk Science with the Orbiting Astronomical Satellite Investigating Stellar Systems (OASIS) Observatory
Space Science Reviews (2023)
-
Three eras of planetary exploration
Nature Astronomy (2017)
-
Water in the Earth’s Interior: Distribution and Origin
Space Science Reviews (2017)
-
MWR: Microwave Radiometer for the Juno Mission to Jupiter
Space Science Reviews (2017)
-
Resonance ionisation mass spectrometry of krypton and its applications in planetary science
Hyperfine Interactions (2014)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.