Nitrogen and Argon in ALH 84001 Revisited: Unravelling a Martian Atmospheric Component

Details Nitrogen and Argon in ALH 84001 Revisited: Unravelling a Martian Atmospheric Component Nitrogen and Argon in ALH 84001 Revisited: Unravelling a Martian Atmospheric Component

Mar 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996lpi....27..437g&link_type=abstract

Lunar and Planetary Science, volume 27, page 437

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Argon, Gases: Trapped, Krypton-Argon Age, Mars: Atmosphere, Nitrogen

Scientific paper

We have measured nitrogen and argon released simultaneously upon combustion of two samples of ALH 84001 (A84). Both nitrogen and argon appeared to be heterogeneously distributed in the rock: one sample liberated very little gas above blank levels, whereas the second sample, selected because it contained abundant material from the "crush zones", was rich in both species. Using the ^40Ar/^14N ratio and delta ^15N of the gas liberated above 700 degrees C from this second sample, an attempt has been made to calculate the relative quantities of adsorbed terrestrial gases and trapped martian atmospheric species. Following from this, excess ^40Ar attributed to radiogenic production from potassium decay can be used to determine a K-Ar age of the sample. We calculate that ~17.5% of the total ^40Ar is indigenous to the sample. Assuming that the trapped component would have a ^40Ar/^14N ratio equivalent to that in the present-day martian atmosphere (~0.33), then there is a small excess of ^40Ar (amounting to about 1.5% of the total ^40Ar). Taking a reasonable estimate of the potassium abundance (100-200 ppm) implies that A84 has a K-Ar age of ~0.76-1.28 Gyr, which is much younger than ages determined in previous studies and using other methods.

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