NOBLE GASES IN GEOCHEMISTRY AND COSMOCHEMISTRY

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1 3m V IImm 41 NOBLE GASES IN GEOCHEMISTRY AND COSMOCHEMISTRY Editors:, '...., Donald Porcelli Chris J. Ballentine RainerWieler Department of Earth Sciences University of Oxford Oxford, United Kingdom Department of Earth Sciences University of Manchester Manchester, United Kingdom Institute for Isotope Geology and Mineral Resources ETH-Zurich Zurich, Switzerland Front cover: Courtesy Frontispiece: Cartoon by Elisabeth Wilding Series Editors: Jodi J. Rosso & Paul H. Ribbe E 'CIHIIEMIICAIL S CHETTY " HETTY. ff AMllRII'CA

2 Table of Contents Noble Gases in Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry 1 An Overview of Noble Gas Geochemistry and Cosmochemistry Donald Porcelli, Chris J. Ballentine, Rainer Wieler INTRODUCTION 1 NOBLE GAS MASS SPECTROMETRY 2 THE ATMOSPHERIC STANDARD 2 PRODUCTION OF NOBLE GAS ISOTOPES 4 BEHAVIOR OF THE NOBLE GASES 5 Water, natural gas, and oil partitioning 6 Silicate melt solubilities 6 Crystal-melt partitioning 6 Iron-silicate partitioning 6 Adsorption 6 Diffusion 7 Atmosphere losses 7 NOBLE GASES IN COSMOCHEMICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES 7 Noble gases in cosmochemistry 8 Noble gases in the mantle 10 Noble gases in surface reservoirs 11 Noble gases and geochronology 13 END NOTE 14 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.. 14 REFERENCES 14 APPENDIX Noble Gases in the Solar System Rainer Wieler INTRODUCTION 21 ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES 21 THE SUN 23 Solar noble gas abundances 23 Helium in the Sun 26 Noble gases in the solar corpuscular radiation 27 THE GIANT PLANETS 36 The He abundances 36 The Ne-Xe abundances in Jupiter 39 i Isotopic ratios in Jupiter 40 VENUS :. : 42 THE MOON 43 Trapped solar (and other) noble gases in the lunar (and asteroidal) regoliths.-; 43 Nitrogen in lunar samples Cosmogenic noble gases in lunar samples 53 THE EXOSPHERES OF THE MOON AND MERCURY : 55 Sources and sinks 57 COMETS 58 INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLES AND MICROMETEORITES 59 IX

3 ELEMENTARY PARTICLES IN INTERPLANETARY SPACE 61 Galactic cosmic rays 61 Interstellar and interplanetary pick-up ions 62 Anomalous cosmic rays'. '. 63 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 63 REFERENCES 63 3 Noble Gases in Meteorites - Trapped Components UlrichOtt OVERVIEW AND HISTORY 71 ELEMENTAL ABUNDANCE PATTERNS 73 I SOTOPIC COMPOSITIONS... : : 74 Helium '. :...; 75 Neon : ; 76 Argon..'...'.'...:. '...' 77 Krypton '. 78 Xenon 80 ORIGINS AND HISTORY Q(Pl)-gases,.... ; :'. :...83 Gases in presolar silicon carbide and graphite..' '. 84 Gases trapped in presolar diamond (HL, P3 and P6 components) 87 Ureilite gases...' '. 89 Subsolarand sub-q gases... ; 89 Sitings V.,..90 Other (lesser) components RELATIONS..;...91 Relationship between Q and solar gases..91 A more primitive component (in Xe and only in Xe?) 94 CONCLUDING REMARKS :. 96 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 96 REFERENCES.' Noble Gases in the Moon and Meteorites: Radiogenic Components and Early Volatile Chronologies Timothy D. Swindle INTRODUCTION 101 LONG-LIVED NUCLIDES: CHRONOLOGY OF SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION 102 Solar system impact history 103 Extinct radionuclides: Chronology of solar system formation 108 Iodine-xenon ;...1O9 '"Plutonium ;...;;.; Other fissioning nuclides? : 120 Other radiogenic noble gases ' ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...;; REFERENCES...;. ; 121

4 5 Cosmic-Ray-Produced Noble Gases in Meteorites Rainer Wieler INTRODUCTION 125 THE PRODUCTION OF COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES IN METEORITES ;...: 126 Fundamentals 126 Production systematics 128 Cosmogenic noble gases produced by capture of low-energy neutrons 139 Isotopic abundances of cosmogenic noble gases 141 EXPOSURE AGE DISTRIBUTIONS OF METEORITES 144 Undifferentiated meteorites 146 Differentiated meteorites : 149 Exposure ages and dynamical models of meteorite delivery 153 COMPLEX EXPOSUREHISTORIES.:...: 155 THE COSMIC RAY FLUX IN TIME 159 TERRESTRIAL AGES 161 COSMOGENIC NOBLE GASES PRODUCED BY SOLAR COSMIC RAYS (SCR) 162 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 162 REFERENCES Martian Noble Gases Timothy D. Swindle STUDYING MARS AS ANOTHER PLANET 171 DISCOVERY OF MARTIAN METEORITES 171 MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE 175 OTHER MARTIAN NOBLE GAS RESERVOIRS 180 Martian interior (Chassigny) :..; 180 Other reservoirs I: Nakhlite (and ALH84001)Xe 181 Other reservoirs II: Shergottite Ar 182 Paleoatmosphere 183 MARTIAN CHRONOLOGY Ar- 39 Ar dating.-.-. ; 184 Cosmic-ray exposure ages 185 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 187 REFERENCES Origin of Noble Gases in the Terrestrial Planets Robert O. Pepin, Donald Porcelli INTRODUCTION...; : 191 CHARACTERISTICS OF PLANETARY NOBLE GASES : 193 Planetary noble gas abundance patterns.... ; 193 Terrestrial noble gases.' '. 196 Noble gases on Venus : 205 Noble Gases on Mars : ACQUISITION OF PLANETARY NOBLE GASES..; 208 Early post-nebular solar wind 209 Adsorption on pre-planetary grains or protoplanetary bodies 210 Gravitational capture 210 Accretion of volatile-rich planetesimals 213

5 LOSSES AND MODIFICATIONS OF PLANETARY NOBLE GASES 216 Losses during accretion 216 Sputtering 217 Hydrodynamic escape Primordial xenon :.231 OUTSTANDING ISSUES ; 235 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 239 REFERENCES Noble Gas Isotope Geochemistry of Mid-Ocean Ridge and Ocean Island Basalts: Characterization of Mantle Source Reservoirs David W. Graham INTRODUCTION 247 BACKGROUND 249 Noble gas chemical behavior 249 Mantle structure and noble gases 252 HELIUM 254 Significance '. 254 Radiogenic production 255 Mid-ocean ridge basalts 255 Ocean island basalts 265 NEON ; 279 Significance 279 Nucleogenic production ; Mid-ocean ridge basalts 281 Ocean island basalts 283 ARGON 284 Significance 284 Radiogenic production 284 Atmospheric contamination 284 Mid-ocean ridge basalts 285 Ocean island basalts 288 KRYPTON 289 XENON 289 Significance 289 Radiogenic production 290 Mid-ocean ridge basalts 291 Ocean island basalts 292 COUPLED RADIOGENIC/NUCLEOGENIC PRODUCTION 293 Neon-helium systematics 293 Argon-helium systematics 297 Xenon-neon-helium systematics 300 MANTLE ABUNDANCE PATTERNS OF NOBLE GASES 301 PRINCIPAL OBSERVATIONS 302 SUMMARY 303 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 305 REFERENCES 305 xil

6 9 Noble Gases and Volatile Recycling at Subduction Zones David R. Hilton, Tobias P. Fischer, Bernard Marry INTRODUCTION ;..319 SAMPLING FOR NOBLE GASES../. 320 Volcanic and geothermal fluids ; 320 Hot spring waters and groundwaters ^." Geothermal wells 322 Natural gases 322 Mafic phenocrysts and xenoliths 322 Submarine glasses 323 Problematic issues of noble gas analysis 323 NOBLE GAS SYSTEMATICS OF ARC-RELATED VOLCAMSM 324 Helium isotope systematics of arc-related volcanism 325 Neon and argon isotope systematics of arc-related volcanism 330 Krypton and xenon isotope systematics of arc-related volcanism 333 Relative noble gas abundance systematics of arc-related volcanism 333 NOBLE GASES IN BACK-ARC BASINS Helium isotopes in back-arc basins 334 Neon isotopes in back-arc basins 337 Argon, krypton and xenon isotopes in back-arc basins 338 RECYCLING OF VOLATILES AT SUBDUCTION ZONES: A MASS BALANCE APPROACH 340 The global volatile output at arc volcanoes: The 3 He approach 340 Volatile output at individual arcs SO 2 and the power law distribution 341 Using helium to resolve volatile provenance 349 Problematic issues regarding estimates of volatile output at arcs 351 Volatile output at the back-arc and fore-arc regions 352 The volatile input via the trench 353 Volatile mass balance at subduction zones 355 Global implications of volatile recycling at subduction zones 358 SUMMARY AND FUTURE WORK.": ; 361 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ' REFERENCES Storage and Transport of Noble Gases in the Subcontinental Lithosphere Tibor J. Dunai, Donald Porcelli INTRODUCTION 371 SUBCONTINENTAL MANTLE AS GEOCHEMICAL RESERVOIR Thickness of the lithosphere 372 Composition of the lithosphere 373 Age of the lithosphere ; 374 Possible xenolith noble gas components 374 NOBLE GASES IN ULTRAMAFIC XENOLITHS AND PHENOCRYSTS 377 Fluid inclusions as hosts for noble gases 377 Helium isotopic variations 381 He-Sr relationships 382 He-C relationships : 384 The heavier noble gases Regional studies of the sources of xenolith mantle rare gases 388 The mantle sources of xenolith He 394 Introducing He into the lithosphere : 396 xiii

7 DIAMONDS 397 Ancient He 398 Ancient Xe 399 Mantle sources of diamond rare gases 399 MANTLE VOLATILES IN THE CONTINENTAL CRUST CONCLUSIONS : ;. 400 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS REFERENCES:...:...;: :; ; Models for the Distribution of Terrestrial Noble Gases and Evolution of the Atmosphere D. Porcelli, C.J. Ballentine INTRODUCTION 411 RADIOGENIC COMPONENTS IN THE BULK EARTH AND ATMOSPHERE...; 412 Radiogenic He and nucleogenic Ne : 412 Radiogenic Ar...: Radiogenic and fissiogenic Xe ;: MANTLE NOBLE GAS CHARACTERISTICS : 419 Helium isotopic compositions in the mantle 419 Neon isotopic compositions in the mantle.. ' Argon isotopic compositions in the mantle : 423 Xe isotopes and a nonresidual upper mantle 427 Mantle noble gas relative abundances 428 Noble gas fluxes and mantle concentrations : Undepleted mantle...: : : Coupled degassing of noble gases....:...: TRACE ELEMENT ISOTOPE CONSTRAINTS ON MANTLE RESERVOIRS'. :: 436 Relationship between noble gases and radiogenic isotopes : 436 Mass and character of the depleted mantle 436 Timing of mantle depletion and recycling 438 PHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS ON MANTLE MODELS Mantle reservoirs 438 Geophysical evidence for the scale of mantle convection 439 Early Earth history 443 NOBLE GAS MANTLE MODELS 446 Single reservoir degassing 446 Limited interaction box models 448 Steady state box models 452 Break-up of a previously layered mantle 457 The lower boundary layer reservoir 457 The upper boundary layer reservoir, 459 Deeper or 'abyssal' layering 459 Heterogeneities preserved within the convecting mantle 460 Depleted, high He/U mantle 462 Storage of noble gases in the core 463 Subduction of meteoritic He : 465 CONCLUSIONS Overall assessment of the models 466 Some persistent misconceptions 467 Important parameters that are still unknown 468 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; REFERENCES 469 xiv

8 12 Production, Release and Transport of Noble Gases in the Continental Crust Chris J. Ballentine, Pete G. Burnard INTRODUCTION 481 RADIOGENIC, NUCLEOGENIC, AND FISSIOGENIC NOBLE GASES 482 The subsurface neutron flux and reaction probability :.482 Helium ;.../ : 487 Neon. ;.49O Argon 495 Krypton and xenon 498 Cosmogenic noble gas production 501 Interplanetary dust accumulation 503 Production rates in continental crust today and over the history of the Earth 504 RELEASE OF NOBLE GASES FROM MINERALS IN THE CRUST 506 Recoil loss Diffusive loss from minerals 506 :.5O9 Mineral breakdown/diagenesis/metamorphism/alteration 512 TRANSPORT OF NOBLE GASES FROM THE DEEP CRUST TO SHALLOW LEVEL SYSTEMS 514. Diffusion: A viable transport mechanism to degas the continental crust? 515 Differential release and transport of helium and argon 517 Accumulation and release: Fluid flow in the crust ; 5 19 HEAT AND HELIUM : The relationship between 4 He and heat Transport of mantle heat and helium through the crust : 521 Transport of crustal heat and 4 He 524 MAGMATIC NOBLE GASES IN THE CRUST..: '. 525 Tectonic control on magmatic fluid location Fossil magmatic gases 529 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. REFERENCES......:..: : : Tracing Fluid Origin, Transport and Interaction in the Crust Chris J. Ballentine, Ray Burgess, Bernard Marty INTRODUCTION :: : : ; 539 PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY OF NOBLE GASES IN CRUSTAL FLUIDS.540 Henry's law and the assumption of ideality. 540 Non-ideality in the gas phase Non-ideality in the fluid phase :...:. 544 Noble gas solubility in water and oil 546 PHASE EQUILIBRIUM AND FRACTIONATION OF NOBLE GASES Liquid-gas phase partitioning of noble gases 548 Liquid-liquid phase partitioning of noble gases 549 Relative fractionation Rayleigh fractionation ;. 551 Re-solution and effervescence 555 Multiple subsurface fluid phases 558 Diffusion or kinetic fractionation RESOLVING DIFFERENT NOBLE GAS COMPONENTS IN CRUSTAL FLUIDS 562 NOBLE GASES IN HYDROCARBON GAS AND OIL RESERVOIRS 565 Identifying and quantifying groundwater/gas/oil interaction '. 567 Case studies...: 569 NOBLE GASES IN ANCIENT GROUNDWATERS AND CRUSTAL DEGASSING 581 Sources of He isotopes in groundwaters.. : 582 Deep aquifers and the crustal He flux 584 xv

9 Advective versus diffusive transfer of noble gases in basins 590 Tentative synthesis 592 MAGMATIC FLUIDS IN THE CRUST 595 Mantle degassing in the continental crust: The noble gas imprint 595 NOBLE GASES IN MINERAL DEPOSITS AND HYDROTHERMAL FLUIDS Post-entrapment modification of He and Ar isotopes Noble gas mixtures in mineralizing fluids 601 Description and analysis of multi-component noble gas mixtures in ore fluids 601 Further developments.605 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 608 REFERENCES Noble Gases in Lakes and Ground Waters Rolf Kipfer, Werner Aeschbach-Hertig, Frank Peeters, Marvin Stute INTRODUCTION... : : ;: : ' 615 ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES.617 NOBLE GAS COMPONENTS IN WATER ; 619 Atmospheric noble gases 1: Solubility equilibrium 619 Atmospheric noble gases 2: Excess Air.' ; 624 Radiogenic He (and Ar) 629 Terrigenic He... :...: Radioactive noble gas isotopes Man made pseudo-conservative trace gases 633 Data evaluation and interpretation 633 Conceptual models for noble gases in water 634 Separation of the components., 641 Interpretation :.: 647 APPLICATIONS IN LAKES.,..: Mixing and the distribution of dissolved substances in lakes 651 Distribution of noble gases in lakes :. 653 Application of 3 H- 3 He dating in lakes 654 Quantification of vertical exchange rates and vertical turbulent diffusivities 658 He flux from the continental crust and oxygen depletion : 661 Noble gases from the Earth's mantle.: 664 Applications in ground water 666 Dating of young ground waters 667 Dating of old ground waters 676 Noble gas recharge temperatures 679 Excess air 683 NOBLE GASES IN ICE.. 687; Gravitational separation :... '. 687 Thermal diffusion 687 Helium isotopes 689 REFERENCES:.. ;..:, Noble Gases in Ocean Waters and Sediments Peter Schlosser, Gisela Winckler INTRODUCTION 701 TRACING OCEAN CIRCULATION USING 3 HE AND TRITIUM 702 Tritium/ 3 He method : 702 Exemplary results from tritium/ 3 He studies..706 MANTLE 3 HE.' : 709 General background 709 Geochemical background, He plumes in the ocean 710 xvi

10 THE FLUX OF 3 HE AND 4 HE FROM THE SEAFLOOR 711 "He He 713 EXTRATERRESTRIAL 3 HE IN DEEP-SEA SEDIMENTS 715 Delivery of extraterrestrial 3 He to the ocean sediments Applications of the IDP-derived 3 He method : 717 NOBLE GASES IN DEEP-SEA BRINES 720 The Red Sea 720 The Eastern Mediterranean 721 AIR/SEA GAS EXCHANGE STUDIED BY DUAL TRACER RELEASE EXPERIMENTS Background 721 SF 6 / 3 He Method 723 Results from oceanic dual gas tracer releases...: '.'. 723 PERSPECTIVES : 723 REFERENCES Cosmic-Ray-Produced Noble Gases in Terrestrial Rocks: Dating Tools for Surface Processes Samuel Niedermann INTRODUCTION 731 THE FUNDAMENTALS OF SURFACE EXPOSURE DATING 732 Production mechanisms of cosmogenic nuclides in terrestrial rocks 732 Temporal variation of cosmogenic nuclide production 740 Cosmogenic nuclide production at depth and on eroding surfaces 748 Derivation of exposure ages and erosion rates 750 Error considerations 754 PRODUCTION RATES OF COSMOGENIC NUCLIDES 755 Experimental determinations of production rates 755 Production rates obtained by model calculations >. 761 EXPERIMENTAL ISSUES 762 Retentivity of minerals for cosmogenic He and Ne 762 Discrimination of cosmogenic against trapped, radiogenic, and nucleogenic components 763 Cosmogenic noble gases as a nuisance 769 Cosmogenic noble gases versus radionuclides :.770 APPLICATION EXAMPLES '..771 Dating of lava flows Glacier movement and ice sheet evolution :.: 772 Rates of erosion and soil accumulation 773 Rates of tectonic uplift 775 Earthquakes and landslides 775 Further applications 776 Future prospects 776 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ; 777 REFERENCES : 777 xvii

11 17 K-Ar and Ar-Ar Dating Simon Kelley INTRODUCTION A BIT OF HISTORY 785 THE K-AR AND AR-AR DATING METHODS 786 Introduction 786 Assumptions 787 CALCULATING K-AR AND AR-AR AGES 788 The values of constants and estimation of errors 792 ARGON DIFFUSION AND SOLUBILITY '. 795 Argon diffusion (and its use to determine thermal histories) 795 Argon solubility (and the causes of extraneous argon) 798 APPLICATIONS 806 Thermochronology 806 Dating young volcanic eruptions : '. 809 High-precision ages on altered basalts 809 Dating low-temperature processes 809 Unique samples 810 Acknowledgments 810 REFERENCES (U-Th)/He Dating: Techniques, Calibrations, and Applications Kenneth A. Farley INTRODUCTION....' Rationale 819 TECHNICAL ASPECTS : He ingrowth DIFFUSION BEHAVIOR 821 Apatite '. 822 Hematite.:. '. 825 Titanite 825 Zircon 826 Garnet 827 The cc-emission correction 827 Analytical procedures, accuracy, precision and mineral standards 832 INTERPRETATION OF HE AGES AND EXAMPLES 835 He cooling ages 835 Some case studies FUTURE PROSPECTS ' 839 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.840 REFERENCES, APPENDIX: ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES 844 xv in

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