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Science 13 March 1992:
Vol. 255. no. 5050, pp. 1409 - 1411
DOI: 10.1126/science.11537889
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Articles

Science, Vol 255, Issue 5050, 1409-1411
Copyright © 1992 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Water in SNC meteorites: evidence for a martian hydrosphere

HR Karlsson, RN Clayton, EK Gibson Jr, and TK Mayeda

Planetary Science Branch, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058.

The Shergotty-Nakhla-Chassigny (SNC) meteorites, purportedly of martian origin, contain 0.04 to 0.4 percent water by weight. Oxygen isotopic analysis can be used to determine whether this water is extraterrestrial or terrestrial. Such analysis reveals that a portion of the water is extraterrestrial and furthermore was not in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the host rock. Lack of equilibrium between water and host rock implies that the lithosphere and hydrosphere of the SNC parent body formed two distinct oxygen isotopic reservoirs. If Mars was the parent body, the maintenance of two distinct reservoirs may result from the absence of plate tectonics on the planet.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
The Oxygen Cycle of the Terrestrial Planets: Insights into the Processing and History of Oxygen in Surface Environments.
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Mass-Independent Isotope Effects in Planetary Atmospheres and the Early Solar System.
M. H. Thiemens (1999)
Science 283, 341-345
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Atmosphere-Surface Interactions on Mars: Delta 17O Measurements of Carbonate from ALH 84001 .
J. Farquhar, M. H. Thiemens, and T. Jackson (1998)
Science 280, 1580-1582
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