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Science 22 April 1983:
Vol. 220. no. 4595, pp. 410 - 411
DOI: 10.1126/science.220.4595.410
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Articles

Helium on Venus: Implications for Uranium and Thorium

MICHAEL J. PRATHER 1 and MICHAEL B. McELROY 1

1 Center for Earth and Planetary Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Helium is removed at an average rate of 106 atoms per square centimeter per second from Venus's atmosphere by the solar wind following ionization above the plasmapause. The surface source of helium-4 on Venus is similar to that on Earth, suggesting comparable abundances of crustal uranium and thorium.

Submitted on October 12, 1982
Revised on February 1, 1983

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)