Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 9 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5118, pp. 170 - 176
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5118.170
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Helium-3 from the Mantle: Primordial Signal or Cosmic Dust?

Don L. Anderson 1

1 Seismological Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125

Helium-3 in hotspot magmas has been used as unambiguous evidence for the existence of a primordial, undegassed reservoir deep in the Earth's mantle. However, a large amount of helium-3 is delivered to the Earth's surface by interplanetary dust particles (IDPs). Recycling of deep-sea sediments containing these particles to the mantle, and eventual incorporation in magma, can explain the high helium-3/helium-4 ratios of hotspot magmas. Basafts with high helium-3/helium-4 ratios may represent degassing of helium introduced by ancient (probably 1.5 to 2.0 billion years old) pelagic sediments rather than degassing of primordial lower mantle material brought to the surface in plumes. Influx of IDPs can also explain the neon and siderophile compositions of mantle samples.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Absence of a high time-integrated 3He/(U+Th) source in the mantle beneath continents.
J. M.D. Day, D. R. Hilton, D. G. Pearson, C. G. Macpherson, B. A. Kjarsgaard, and P. E. Janney (2005)
Geology 33, 733-736
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Nuclear georeactor origin of oceanic basalt 3He/4He, evidence, and implications.
J. M. Herndon (2003)
PNAS 100, 3047-3050
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Noble Gas Isotope Geochemistry of Mid-Ocean Ridge and Ocean Island Basalts: Characterization of Mantle Source Reservoirs.
D. W. Graham (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 247-317
   Full Text »    PDF »
Noble Gases and Volatile Recycling at Subduction Zones.
D. R. Hilton, T. P. Fischer, and B. Marty (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 319-370
   Full Text »    PDF »
Models for Distribution of Terrestrial Noble Gases and Evolution of the Atmosphere.
D. Porcelli and C. J. Ballentine (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 411-480
   Full Text »    PDF »
Noble Gases in Ocean Waters and Sediments.
P. Schlosser and G. Winckler (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 701-730
   Full Text »    PDF »
Osmium-187 Enrichment in Some Plumes: Evidence for Core-Mantle Interaction?.
R. J. Walker, R. J. Walker, J. W. Morgan, and M. F. Horan (1995)
Science 269, 819-822
   Abstract »    PDF »
Primitive Boron Isotope Composition of the Mantle.
M. Chaussidon, M. Chaussidon, and B. Marty (1995)
Science 269, 383-386
   Abstract »    PDF »
Retention of Helium in Subducted Interplanetary Dust Particles.
H. Craig and H. Craig (1994)
Science 265, 1892-1893
   PDF »
Retention of Solar Helium and Neon in IDPs in Deep Sea Sediment.
H. Hiyagon and H. Hiyagon (1994)
Science 263, 1257-1259
   Abstract »    PDF »
The water inventory of the Earth: fluids and tectonics.
W.S. Fyfe (1994)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 78, 1-7
   Abstract »    PDF »
Mantle Plume Helium in Submarine Basalts from the Galapagos Platform.
D. W. Graham, D. W. Graham, D. M. Christie, K. S. Harpp, and J. E. Lupton (1993)
Science 262, 2023-2026
   Abstract »    PDF »
A Direct Measurement of the Terrestrial Mass Accretion Rate of Cosmic Dust.
S. G. Love, S. G. Love, and D. E. Brownlee (1993)
Science 262, 550-553
   Abstract »    PDF »
Is "Primordial" Helium Really Extraterrestrial?.
K. A. Farley and K. A. Farley (1993)
Science 261, 166-167
   PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

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