Retention of Solar Helium and Neon in IDPs in Deep Sea Sediment

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 263; no. 5151; pp. 1257 - 1259
• Main Author: Hiyagon, Hajime
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 04.03.1994; American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Activation energy; Cosmic dust; Cuprates; Earth; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Gases; Gases, Rare; Helium; Isotope geochemistry; Isotope geochemistry. Geochronology; Mantle; Mantle (Geology); Marine; Marine and continental quaternary; Material films; Neon; Noble gases; Sediments; Subduction; Subduction zones; Subduction zones (Geology); Surficial geology; Pacific Ocean; ISEW; deep-sea environment; diffusion; neon; cosmic dust; helium; He-4/He-3; Sun; Earth; subduction; Ne-22/Ne-21; Ne-22/Ne-20; mantle; particles; extraterrestrial origin; marine sediments
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.263.5151.1257

It was recently proposed that subduction of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) contained in deep sea sediments could have introduced substantial solar helium and neon to the Earth's mantle. However, it is not certain if IDPs would retain solar noble gases during subduction. A diffusion experiment that examined He and Ne in IDPs in a magnetic separate from Pacific Ocean sediments showed that He and Ne would be lost from IDPs within 3 years at 500°C, and possibly within 10$^5$ years at 200°C, which suggests that they would be lost from subducting slabs at shallow depths.