Abstract
We determined the concentrations of trapped Ar, Kr, and Xe in impact-melt glasses from Shergotty, Y793605, and two inclusions of EET79001 not previously analyzed. When combined with literature noble gas data on a single glass inclusion in EET79001 and a glass vein in Zagami, these data give more accurate estimates of the composition of Martian atmospheric gases trapped in these glasses. For the geological recent composition of the Martian atmospheric we infer 129Xe/ 132Xe = 2.60 ± 0.05, 36Ar/ 132Xe = 900 ± 100, and 84Kr/ 132Xe = 20.5 ± 2.5. These elemental ratios differ from those measured by Viking by factors of 2.5 and 1.8, respectively. The 36Ar/ 132Xe and 84Kr/ 132Xe ratios in ALH84001 are considerably less than those in impact glasses and suggest preferential adsorption (in carbonate?) of Xe over Ar and Xe over Kr by factors of ∼11 and ∼2.6, respectively. We suggest that noble gases dissolved in water may have largely determined the trapped noble gas abundance pattern in ALH84001.
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