On the preservation of Xe of the isotopically normal component of noble gases in meteoritic nanodiamonds and 4He in lunar soil according to the data of gas desorption during stepped pyrolysis

Abstract

The release kinetics of Xe of the isotopically normal component of noble gases (P3 component) from the coarse-grained fraction of nanodiamonds from the Orgueil (CI) meteorite and the kinetics of 4He release from lunar soil were studied by means of a numerical simulation. It is demonstrated that the release of these gases as a peak with a single pronounced maximum may not correspond to the diffusion model with a single activation energy and can in fact be controlled by a spectrum of activation energies with a number of peaks a number of peaks remaining unresolved at stepped pyrolysis. In particular, the amount of Xe-P3 preserved in nanodiamonds during thermal metamorphism of the Orgueil meteorite calculated using parameters of the diffusion process (activation energy and frequency factor) that were determined in the model with a single activation energy indicates that practically all Xe should be lost during a very short time. These losses are inconsistent with both the duration of thermal metamorphism of the meteorite parent bodies and the Xe-P3 concentrations measured in these meteorites. A much higher preservation of Xe-P3 during thermal metamorphism lasting for hundreds of years follows from calculations based on diffusion with a spectrum of activation energiesa for Xe release. The results of isothermal pyrolysis of a nanodiamonds fraction from Orgueil confirms a presence of several activation energies for Xe-P3 release from the nanodiamonds. The application of the diffusion model with a spectrum of activation energies to He release from lunar soil samples also shows that He can be retained in these samples at 20°C during a much longer time than it follows from the model with a single activation energy (Anufriev, 2010).