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Science 24 December 1971:
Vol. 174. no. 4016, pp. 1334 - 1336
DOI: 10.1126/science.174.4016.1334
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Articles

The Xenon Record of Extinct Radioactivities in the Earth

Mervet S. Boulos 1 and Oliver K. Manuel 1

1 Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri, Rolla 65401

Analyses of xenon from well gas rich in carbon dioxide reveal a large excess of radiogenic xenon-129 from the decay of extinct iodine-129. Smaller excesses observed in the heavy xenon isotopes are from fission. These results place narrow limits on any age difference between the earth and the oldest meteorites. The occurrence of excess radiogenic xenon-129 in well gas also suggests that any quantitative degassing of existing solid materials to form the atmosphere must have been limited to a very early period of the earth's history, approximately the first 108 years. Alternatively, this observation is consistent with a model of the earth's continuous, but still incomplete, degassing since its time of formation.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Primordial Noble Gases from Earth's Mantle: Identification of a Primitive Volatile Component.
M. W. Caffee, G. B. Hudson, C. Velsko, G. R. Huss, E. C. Alexander Jr., and A. R. Chivas (1999)
Science 285, 2115-2118
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Plutonium-Fission Xenon Found in Earth's Mantle.
J. Kunz, T. Staudacher, and C. J. Allègre (1998)
Science 280, 877-880
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Mars and Earth: Origin and Abundance of Volatiles.
E. Anders, E. Anders, and T. Owen (1977)
Science 198, 453-465
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