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Krypton and xenon from the solar wind and solar energetic particles in two lunar ilmenites of different antiquity
Author(s) -
Wieler Rainer,
Baur Heinrich
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
meteoritics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 0026-1114
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1994.tb00770.x
Subject(s) - krypton , noble gas , neon , xenon , isotopes of argon , solar energetic particles , solar wind , chemistry , isotope , isotopes of xenon , argon , isotope fractionation , analytical chemistry (journal) , atomic physics , physics , nuclear physics , plasma , coronal mass ejection , chromatography
We present Kr and Xe isotope data obtained by closed system stepped etching of ilmenite separates from two lunar samples exposed to the solar corpuscular radiation at different epochs. Helium, neon, and argon in the same samples were reported to consist of two components: isotopically unfractionated solar wind (SW) released in the first steps, and an isotopically heavier component (SEP) released later and, thus, sited at larger depth. The same release characteristic is now observed for the heavy noble gases. We also conclude that solar Kr and Xe consist of two isotopically different components, implanted with different energies. The SW‐Kr in a recently irradiated soil has a composition very close to atmospheric Kr, which agrees with other newly reported data from stepped etch‐ and combustion runs. No clear evidence for temporally variable SW‐Kr or SW‐Xe spectra was found. “Surface correlated” Kr and Xe components “SUCOR” and “BEOC 12001” are a mixture of SW and SEP. The isotopic fractionation factors relating SW and SEP are close to the square of the mass ratios for all five noble gases. We infer that the measured Kr/Xe ratio in ilmenite is essentially identical to this ratio in the solar corpuscular radiation.