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Science 15 January 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5400, pp. 341 - 345
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5400.341
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Review

Mass-Independent Isotope Effects in Planetary Atmospheres and the Early Solar System

Mark H. Thiemens

A class of isotope effects that alters isotope ratios on a mass-independent basis provides a tool for studying a wide range of processes in atmospheres of Earth and other planets as well as early processes in the solar nebula. The mechanism for the effect remains uncertain. Mass-independent isotopic compositions have been observed in O3, CO2, N2O, and CO in Earth's atmosphere and in carbonate from a martian meteorite, which suggests a role for mass-independent processes in the atmosphere of Mars. Observed mass-independent meteoritic oxygen and sulfur isotopic compositions may derive from chemical processes in the presolar nebula, and their distributions could provide insight into early solar system evolution.

The author is at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0356, USA. E-mail: mht{at}chem.ucsd.edu

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