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

✍ Scribed by Thiemens, M. H.

• Book ID: 121160506
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 615 KB
• Volume: 283
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5400.341

✦ Synopsis

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 O
~3~
, CO
~2~
, N
~2~
O, 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.