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Science 1 October 1976:
Vol. 194. no. 4260, pp. 76 - 78
DOI: 10.1126/science.194.4260.76
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Articles

The Atmosphere of Mars near the Surface: Isotope Ratios and Upper Limits on Noble Gases

K. BIEMANN 1, T. OWEN 2, D. R. RUSHNECK 3, A. L. LAFLEUR 1, and D. W. HOWARTH 4

1 Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139
2 Department of Earth and Space Sciences, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794
3 Interface, Inc., Post Office Box 297, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
4 Guidance and Control Systems Division, Litton Industries, 5500 Canoga Avenue, Woodland Hills, California 91364

Several new analyses of the martian atmosphere have been carried out with the mass spectrometer in the molecular analysis experiment. The ratios of abundant isotopes of carbon and oxygen are within 10 percent of terrestrial values, whereas nitrogen-15 is considerably enriched on Mars. We have detected argon-38 and set new limits on abundances of krypton and xenon. The limit on krypton is sufficiently low to suggest that the inventories of volatile substances on Mars and on Earth may be distinctly different.

Submitted on September 2, 1976


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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Scientific Results of the Viking Missions.
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Structure of the Neutral Upper Atmosphere of Mars: Results from Viking 1 and Viking 2.
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Search for Organic and Volatile Inorganic Compounds in Two Surface Samples from the Chryse Planitia Region of Mars.
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Science 194, 72-76
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