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Trapped noble gases indicate lunar origin for Antarctic Meteorite
Author(s) -
Bogard D. D.,
Johnson P.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl010i009p00801
Subject(s) - noble gas , meteorite , regolith , astrobiology , atmosphere (unit) , chondrite , cosmic ray , geology , physics , astrophysics , atomic physics , meteorology
The isotopic abundances of the noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe) are reported for Antarctic meteorite ALHA81005. It contains solar wind‐implanted gases whose absolute and relative concentrations are quite similar to lunar regolith samples but not to other meteorites. ALHA81005 also contains a large excess 40 Ar component which is identical to the component in lunar fines implanted from the lunar atmosphere. Large concentrations of cosmogenic 21 Ne, 82 Kr and 126 Xe in ALHA81005 indicate a total cosmic ray exposure age of ≥ 2×10 8 years. The noble gas data alone are strong evidence for a lunar origin of this meteorite.