scholarly journals Noble gas isotopic fractionation between solar wind and the Sun, and implications for Genesis solar wind oxygen measurements

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 2049-2055
Author(s):  
M. OZIMA ◽  
T. K. SUZUKI ◽  
A. YAMADA ◽  
F. A. PODOSEK
Author(s):  
Chris J Ballentine ◽  
Greg Holland

Study of commercially produced volcanic CO 2 gas associated with the Colorado Plateau, USA, has revealed substantial new information about the noble gas isotopic composition and elemental abundance pattern of the mantle. Combined with published data from mid-ocean ridge basalts, it is now clear that the convecting mantle has a maximum 20 Ne/ 22 Ne isotopic composition, indistinguishable from that attributed to solar wind-implanted (SWI) neon in meteorites. This is distinct from the higher 20 Ne/ 22 Ne isotopic value expected for solar nebula gases. The non-radiogenic xenon isotopic composition of the well gases shows that 20 per cent of the mantle Xe is ‘solar-like’ in origin, but cannot resolve the small isotopic difference between the trapped meteorite ‘Q’-component and solar Xe. The mantle primordial 20 Ne/ 132 Xe is approximately 1400 and is comparable with the upper end of that observed in meteorites. Previous work using the terrestrial 129 I– 129 Xe mass balance demands that almost 99 per cent of the Xe (and therefore other noble gases) has been lost from the accreting solids and that Pu–I closure age models have shown this to have occurred in the first ca 100 Ma of the Earth's history. The highest concentrations of Q-Xe and solar wind-implanted (SWI)-Ne measured in meteorites allow for this loss and these high-abundance samples have a Ne/Xe ratio range compatible with the ‘recycled-air-corrected’ terrestrial mantle. These observations do not support models in which the terrestrial mantle acquired its volatiles from the primary capture of solar nebula gases and, in turn, strongly suggest that the primary terrestrial atmosphere, before isotopic fractionation, is most probably derived from degassed trapped volatiles in accreting material. By contrast, the non-radiogenic argon, krypton and 80 per cent of the xenon in the convecting mantle have the same isotopic composition and elemental abundance pattern as that found in seawater with a small sedimentary Kr and Xe admix. These mantle heavy noble gases are dominated by recycling of air dissolved in seawater back into the mantle. Numerical simulations suggest that plumes sampling the core–mantle boundary would be enriched in seawater-derived noble gases compared with the convecting mantle, and therefore have substantially lower 40 Ar/ 36 Ar. This is compatible with observation. The subduction process is not a complete barrier to volatile return to the mantle.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Shiokawa ◽  
Katya Georgieva

AbstractThe Sun is a variable active-dynamo star, emitting radiation in all wavelengths and solar-wind plasma to the interplanetary space. The Earth is immersed in this radiation and solar wind, showing various responses in geospace and atmosphere. This Sun–Earth connection variates in time scales from milli-seconds to millennia and beyond. The solar activity, which has a ~11-year periodicity, is gradually declining in recent three solar cycles, suggesting a possibility of a grand minimum in near future. VarSITI—variability of the Sun and its terrestrial impact—was the 5-year program of the scientific committee on solar-terrestrial physics (SCOSTEP) in 2014–2018, focusing on this variability of the Sun and its consequences on the Earth. This paper reviews some background of SCOSTEP and its past programs, achievements of the 5-year VarSITI program, and remaining outstanding questions after VarSITI.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 1275-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan R. Macneil ◽  
Christopher J. Owen ◽  
Robert T. Wicks

Abstract. The development of knowledge of how the coronal origin of the solar wind affects its in situ properties is one of the keys to understanding the relationship between the Sun and the heliosphere. In this paper, we analyse ACE/SWICS and WIND/3DP data spanning  > 12 years, and test properties of solar wind suprathermal electron distributions for the presence of signatures of the coronal temperature at their origin which may remain at 1 AU. In particular we re-examine a previous suggestion that these properties correlate with the oxygen charge state ratio O7+ ∕ O6+, an established proxy for coronal electron temperature. We find only a very weak but variable correlation between measures of suprathermal electron energy content and O7+ ∕ O6+. The weak nature of the correlation leads us to conclude, in contrast to earlier results, that an initial relationship with core electron temperature has the possibility to exist in the corona, but that in most cases no strong signatures remain in the suprathermal electron distributions at 1 AU. It cannot yet be confirmed whether this is due to the effects of coronal conditions on the establishment of this relationship or due to the altering of the electron distributions by processing during transport in the solar wind en route to 1 AU. Contrasting results for the halo and strahl population favours the latter interpretation. Confirmation of this will be possible using Solar Orbiter data (cruise and nominal mission phase) to test whether the weakness of the relationship persists over a range of heliocentric distances. If the correlation is found to strengthen when closer to the Sun, then this would indicate an initial relationship which is being degraded, perhaps by wave–particle interactions, en route to the observer.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S264) ◽  
pp. 356-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. K. Manoharan

AbstractIn this paper, I present the results on large-scale evolution of density turbulence of solar wind in the inner heliosphere during 1985–2009. At a given distance from the Sun, the density turbulence is maximum around the maximum phase of the solar cycle and it reduces to ~70%, near the minimum phase. However, in the current minimum of solar activity, the level of turbulence has gradually decreased, starting from the year 2005, to the present level of ~30%. These results suggest that the source of solar wind changes globally, with the important implication that the supply of mass and energy from the Sun to the interplanetary space has significantly reduced in the present low level of activity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 617 ◽  
pp. A43 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Czechowski ◽  
I. Mann

Context. Because of high charge-to-mass ratio, the nanodust dynamics near the Sun is determined by interplay between the gravity and the electromagnetic forces. Depending on the point where it was created, a nanodust particle can either be trapped in a non-Keplerian orbit, or escape away from the Sun, reaching large velocity. The main source of nanodust is collisional fragmentation of larger dust grains, moving in approximately circular orbits inside the circumsolar dust cloud. Nanodust can also be released from cometary bodies, with highly elongated orbits. Aims. We use numerical simulations and theoretical models to study the dynamics of nanodust particles released from the parent bodies moving in elongated orbits around the Sun. We attempt to find out whether these particles can contribute to the trapped nanodust population. Methods. We use two methods: the motion of nanodust is described either by numerical solutions of full equations of motion, or by a two-dimensional (heliocentric distance vs. radial velocity) model based on the guiding-center approximation. Three models of the solar wind are employed, with different velocity profiles. Poynting–Robertson and the ion drag are included. Results. We find that the nanodust emitted from highly eccentric orbits with large aphelium distance, like those of sungrazing comets, is unlikely to be trapped. Some nanodust particles emitted from the inbound branch of such orbits can approach the Sun to within much shorter distances than the perihelium of the parent body. Unless destroyed by sublimation or other processes, these particles ultimately escape away from the Sun. Nanodust from highly eccentric orbits can be trapped if the orbits are contained within the boundary of the trapping region (for orbits close to ecliptic plane, within ~0.16 AU from the Sun). Particles that avoid trapping escape to large distances, gaining velocities comparable to that of the solar wind.


Solar Physics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 281 (2) ◽  
pp. 793-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Rotter ◽  
A. M. Veronig ◽  
M. Temmer ◽  
B. Vršnak

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