Interstellar Cloud Material: Contribution to Planetary Atmospheres
- 11 August 1978
- journal article
- other
- Published by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Science
- Vol. 201 (4355) , 522-525
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.201.4355.522
Abstract
A statistical analysis of the properties of dense interstellar clouds indicates that the solar system has encountered at least a dozen clouds of sufficient density to cause planets to accumulate nonnegligible amounts of some isotopes. The effect is most pronounced for neon. This mechanism could be responsible for much of the neon in Earth's atmosphere. For Mars, the predicted amount of neon added by cloud encounters greatly exceeds the present abundance.Keywords
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