Mars data presents a collection of startling and seemly contradictory isotopic data: a glaring excess of the two radiogenic isotopes 129 Xe/ 132 Xe @ 2.5 and 40 Ar/ 36 Ar @ 3000 enabled identification of MM (Mars Meteorites) because they are so different than any other major Solar System reservoir. Mars appears to have lost an original atmosphere of pressure 1 bar or greater, yet the ratio 14 N/ 15 N indicates only a loss of a few millibar by Solar Wind Erosion. The LPARE (Large Planet Altering R-process Event) hypothesis attempts to explain these major isotopic puzzles at Mars by postulating that two massive, anomalous thermonuclear explosions, rich in R-process physics, occurred over the surface of Northern Mars in the past, approximately 500 million years ago, and that these explosions created the 129 Xe/ 132 Xe excess, and the accompanying intense neutron bombardment of Mars atmosphere and regolith created the 40 Ar/ 36 Ar excess off of potassium in the surface rocks. The collateral massive and non-mass fractionating atmospheric loss, and the intense neutron bombardment of 14 N in the atmosphere primarily created the 14 N/ 15 N ratio we presently observe, with some mass fractionating erosion of the residual atmosphere. This LPARE hypothesis is found to explain other isotopic features of Mars atmosphere and surface. 80 Kr and 82 Kr are hyperabundant in the Mars atmosphere and in the youngest MMs indicating intense irradiation of Mars surface with neutrons. Although there is presently no plausible explanation for the nuclear events, the hypothesis can be tested through related nuclear products such as Pu-244.
Smith, T., Ranjith, P.M., He, H.Y. and Zhu, R.X. (2020) Reviewing Martian Atmospheric Noble Gas Measurements: From Martian Meteorites to Mars Missions. Geosciences, 10, Article 439. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10110439
Brandenburg, J.E. (1986) The Paleo-Ocean of Mars. Symposium on Mars: Evolution of Its Climate and Atmosphere. Lunar and Planetary Institute. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lpi/contribution_docs/LPI-000599.pdf
Clifford, S.M. and Parker, T.J. (2001) The Evolution of the Martian Hydrosphere: Implications for the Fate of a Primordial Ocean and the Current State of the Northern Plains. Icarus, 154, 40-79. https://doi.org/10.1006/icar.2001.6671
Ming, D., et al. (2006) Geochemical and Mineralogical Indicators for Aqueous Processes in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater, Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research, 111, E02S12. https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JE002560
Hamilton, C.W., Mouginis-Mark, P., Sori, M.M., Scheidt, S.P. and Bramson, A.M. (2018) Episodes of Aqueous Flooding and Effusive Volcanism Associated with Hrad Vallis, Mars. JGR Planets, 123, 1484-1510. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JE005543
Atreya, S., et al. (2013) Primordial Argon Isotope Fractionation in the Atmosphere of Mars Measured by the SAM Instrument on Curiosity and Implications for Atmospheric Loss. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 5605-5609. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057763
Jakosky, B.M., Pepin, R.O., Johnson, R.E. and Fox, J.L. (1994) Mars Atmospheric Loss and Isotopic Fractionation by Solar-Wind-Induced Sputtering and Photochemical Escape. Icarus, 111, 271-288. https://doi.org/10.1006/icar.1994.1145
Baradash, S., Fedorov, A., Lundin, R. and Sauvaud, J.A. (2007) Martian Atmospheric Erosion Rates. Science, 315, 501-503.
Kajino, T., et al. (2019) Current Status of r-Process Nucleosynthesis. Progress in Particle and Nuclear Physics, 107, 109-166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppnp.2019.02.008
Beck, S.A. (2016) Approximating the R-Process on Earth with Thermonuclear Explosions. Lessons Learned and Unanswered Questions, Los Alamos National Laboratory Report LA-UR-16-20452.
Lammer, H., et al. (2020) Loss and Fractionation of Noble Gas Isotopes and Moderately Volatile Elements from Planetary Embryos and Early Venus, Earth and Mars. Space Science Reviews, 216, Article No. 74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00701-x
Brandenburg, J.E. (2015) Evidence for Large, Anomalous Nuclear Explosions on Mars in the Past. Proceedings of the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, 16-20 March 2015. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2015/pdf/2660.pdf
Tanaka, K.L. (1986) The Straitigraphy of Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research, 91, E139-E158. https://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1986LPSC...17..139T https://doi.org/10.1029/JB091iB13p0E139
Bandfield, J.L., Glotch, T.D. and Christensen, P.R. (2003) Spectroscopic Identification of Carbonate Minerals in the Martian Dust. Science, 301, 1084-1087. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1088054
Brandenburg, J.E. (1994) Constraints on the Martian Cratering Record Based on the SNC Meteorites and Implications for the Mars Climatic History. Earth, Moon and Planets, 67, 35-45. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00613288 https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613288
Treiman, A. (1995) S ≠ NC: Multiple Source Areas for Martian Meteorites. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 100, 5329-5340. https://doi.org/10.1029/94JE02184
Nyquist, L.E., Borg, L.E. and Shih, C.Y. (1998) The Shergottite Age Paradox and the Relative Probabilities for Martian Meteorites of Differing Ages. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 103, 31445-31455. https://doi.org/10.1029/98JE01965
Conrad, P.G., et al. (2016) In situ Measurement of Atmospheric Krypton and Xenon on Mars with Mars Science Laboratory. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 454, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.08.028
Krantz, J., et al. (2018) Sequestering of Nobel Gases in Early Hydrated Crusts on Mars. Proceedings of the 49th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, The Woodlands, 19-23 March 2018. https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/pdf/2321.pdf
Saebo, K. and Kuroda, P.K. (1986) Anomalous Xenon Isotopes in Carbonaceous Chondrites. Geochemical Journal, 19, 251-257. https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:17081452 https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.19.251
Hunten, D.M., Pepin, R.O. and Walker, J.C.G. (1987) Mass Fractionation in Hydrodynamic Escape. Icarus, 69, 532-549. https://doi.org/10.1016/0019-1035(87)90022-4
Gilmour, J.D. and Turner, G. (2007) Constraints on Nucleosynthesis from Xenon Isotopes in Presolar Material. The Astrophysical Journal, 657, 600-608. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/510881/pdf https://doi.org/10.1086/510881
Lambrecht, M., et al. (1964) Plutonium Project Report. Reviews of Modern Physics, 18, 539.
Rowe, M.W. and Kuroda, P.K. (1965) Fissiogenic Xenon from the Pasamonte Meteorite. Journal of Geophysical Research, 70, 709-714. https://doi.org/10.1029/JZ070i003p00709
Marty, B., et al. (2017) Xenon Isotopes in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Show That Comets Contributed to Earth’s Atmosphere. Science, 356, 1069-1072. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aal3496
Peron, S. and Mukhopadhyay, S. (2022) Krypton in the Chassigny Meteorite Shows Mars Accreted Chondritic Volatiles before Nebular Gases. Science, 377, 320-324. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk1175 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abk1175
Jelea, A. (2020) An Equation of State for Xenon/Krypton Mixtures Confined in the Nuclear Fuels. Journal of Nuclear Materials, 530, Article ID: 151952. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022311519312772 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2019.151952
NASA (1976) Standard Atmosphere. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19770009539/downloads/19770009539.pdf
Rao, M.N., et al. (2011) Isotopic Evidence for a Martian Regolith Component in Shergottite Meteorites. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, E08006. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2010JE003764 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JE003764
Hidaka, H., Yoneda, S. and Nishiizumi, K. (2009) Cosmic-Ray Exposure Histories of Martian Meteorites Studied from Neutron Capture Reactions of Sm and Gd Isotopes. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 288, 564-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.10.019
Rubin, M., et al. (2018) Krypton Isotopes and Noble Gas Abundances in the Coma of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Science Advances, 4, eaar6297. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar6297 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aar6297
Renne P.R., Knight, K.B., Nomade, S., Leung, K.N. and Lou, T.P. (2005) Application of D-D Fusion Neutrons to 40Ar/39Ar Geochronology. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 62, 25-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2004.06.004 https://escholarship.org/content/qt9nh6r28f/qt9nh6r28f.pdf?t=lnqc6f
Glasstone, S. and Dolan, P.J. (1977) The Effects of Nuclear Weapons. https://www.atomicarchive.com/resources/documents/effects/glasstone-dolan.html
Mahaffy, P.R., Webster, C.R., Atreya, S.K., Franz, H., Wong, M., Conrad, P.G., Harpold, D., Jones, J.J., Leshin, L.A., Manning, H., et al. (2013) Abundance and Isotopic Composition of Gases in the Martian Atmosphere from the Curiosity Rover. Science, 341, 263-266. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1237966
Curci, G., Visconti, G., Jacob, D.J. and Evans, M.J. (2004) Tropospheric Fate of Tunguska Generated Nitrogen Oxides. Geophysical Research Letters, 31, L06123. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2003GL019184 https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL019184
Stern, J.C., et al. (2015) Evidence for Indigenous Nitrogen in Sedimentary and Aeolian Deposits from the Curiosity Rover Investigations at Gale Crater, Mars. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112, 4245-4250. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1507795112
Wong, M.H., et al. (2013) Isotopes of Nitrogen on Mars: Atmospheric Measurements by Curiosity’s Mass Spectrometer. Geophysical Research Letters, 40, 6033-6047. https://doi.org/10.1002/2013GL057840
Brandenburg, J.E. (2011) Evidence for a Large, Natural, Paleo-Nuclear Reactor on Mars. Proceedings of the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Woodlands, 7-11 March 2011. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/1097.pdf
Weissman, P.R. (2007) The Cometary Impactor Flux at the Earth. Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2, 441-450. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921307003559
Surkpov, Y.A., et al. (1988) Determination of the Elemental Composition of Martian Rocks from Phobos 2. Nature, 341, 595-598. https://doi.org/10.1038/341595a0
Taylor, G.J., et al. (2003) Igneous and Aqueous Processes on Mars: Evidence from Measurements of K and Th by the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer. Sixth International Conference on Mars, Pasadena, 20-25 July 2003. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/sixthmars2003/pdf/3207.pdf
Sleep, N.H. and Zahle, K. (1998) Refugia from Asteroid Impacts on Early Mars and Early Earth. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 28529-28544. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/98JE01809 https://doi.org/10.1029/98JE01809
Kolesnikov, E.M., Kolesnikova, N.V. and Boettger, T. (1998) Isotopic Anomaly in Peat Nitrogen Is a Probable Trace of Acid Rains Caused by 1908 Tunguska Bolide. Planetary and Space Science, 46, 163-167. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0032063397001906 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0032-0633(97)00190-6
Horgan, B. and Bell, J.F. (2012) Widespread Weathered Glass on the Surface of Mars. Geology, 40, 391-394. https://doi.org/10.1130/G32755.1 https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/widespread-weathered-glass-on-the-surface-of-mars
Horgon, B., et al. (2011) Acid Alteration of Basalts, Andesites, and Anorthites: Near-IR Spectra and Implications for Martian Soil Formation. Proceedings of the 42nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Woodlands, 7-11 March 2011. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2011/pdf/2415.pdf
Jang, H.K., et al. (2001) Effects of Chemical Etching with Nitric Acid on Glass Surfaces. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology A, 19, 267-274. https://doi.org/10.1116/1.1333087
Wallner, A., et al. (2020) 60 Fe Deposition during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene Echoes past Supernova Activity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117, 21873-21879. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1916769117