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Science 17 December 1976:
Vol. 194. no. 4271, pp. 1293 - 1295
DOI: 10.1126/science.194.4271.1293
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Articles

The Atmosphere of Mars: Detection of Krypton and Xenon

T. OWEN 1, K. BIEMANN 2, D. R. RUSHNECK 3, J. E. BILLER 4, D. W. HOWARTH 5, and A. L. LAFLEUR 4

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

Krypton and xenon have been discovered in the martian atmosphere with the mass spectrometer on the second Viking lander. Krypton is more abundant than xenon. The relative abundances of the krypton isotopes appear normal, but the ratio of xenon-129 to xenon-132 is enhanced on Mars relative to the terrestrial value for this ratio. Some possible implications of these findings are discussed.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mars and Earth: Origin and Abundance of Volatiles.
E. Anders, E. Anders, and T. Owen (1977)
Science 198, 453-465
   Abstract »    PDF »
Scientific Results of the Viking Missions.
G. A. Soffen and G. A. SOFFEN (1976)
Science 194, 1274-1276
   Abstract »    PDF »


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