Primordial argon isotope fractionation in the atmosphere of Mars measured by the SAM instrument on <i>Curiosity</i> and implications for atmospheric loss
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- Sushil K. Atreya
- Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA
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- Melissa G. Trainer
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Heather B. Franz
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Michael H. Wong
- Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan USA
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- Heidi L. K. Manning
- Concordia College Moorhead Minnesota USA
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- Charles A. Malespin
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Paul R. Mahaffy
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Pamela G. Conrad
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Anna E. Brunner
- Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt Maryland USA
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- Laurie A. Leshin
- School of Science Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York USA
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- John H. Jones
- NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Texas USA
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- Christopher R. Webster
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Pasadena California USA
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- Tobias C. Owen
- University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Honolulu Hawaii USA
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- Robert O. Pepin
- University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA
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- R. Navarro‐González
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México México Mexico
説明
<jats:p>The quadrupole mass spectrometer of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on <jats:italic>Curiosity</jats:italic> rover has made the first high‐precision measurement of the nonradiogenic argon isotope ratio in the atmosphere of Mars. The resulting value of <jats:sup>36</jats:sup>Ar/<jats:sup>38</jats:sup>Ar = 4.2 ± 0.1 is highly significant for it provides excellent evidence that “Mars” meteorites are indeed of Martian origin, and it points to a significant loss of argon of at least 50% and perhaps as high as 85–95% from the atmosphere of Mars in the past 4 billion years. Taken together with the isotopic fractionations in N, C, H, and O measured by SAM, these results imply a substantial loss of atmosphere from Mars in the posthydrodynamic escape phase.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Geophysical Research Letters
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Geophysical Research Letters 40 (21), 5605-5609, 2013-11-06
American Geophysical Union (AGU)