Basalts xenon isotopes

Xenon isotopes in oceanic basalts provide the most basic evidence on early differentiation of our planet and on formation of the atmosphere. Several Xe isotopes are produced by extinct radioactivity, providing a method to quantify events at the very start of Earth history near 4500 million years ago to a high precision, within several tens of millions of years. The difference between Xe/ °Xe of the mantle and atmosphere is fundamental evidence for their early separation (e.g., Thompson 1980 Staudacher and Allegre 1982). It is thought that formation of the atmosphere involved some early degassing of the mantle. Whether the Earth ever had a primary atmosphere is still an open question, and ultimately depends upon whether the inner planets formed in the presence of a solar nebula gas phase. The timing of these early events, the degree to which Xe isotope differences reflect variations in I/Xe and Pu/Xe of source reservoirs, and the... 

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