Samarium-146 in the early solar system: evidence from neodymium in the allende meteorite

A carbon-chromite fraction from the Allende C3V chondrite shows strikingly large isotopic enrichments of neodymium-142 (0.47 percent) and neodymium- 143 (36 percent). Both apparently formed by alpha decay of samarium-146 and samarium-147 (half-lives 1.03 x 10(8) and 1.06 x 10(11) years), but the isotopic enrichment was greatly magnified by recoil of residual nuclei into a carbon film surrounding the samarium-bearing grains. These data provide an improved estimate of the original abundance of extinct samarium-146 in the early solar system [(146)Sm/(144)Sm = (4.5 +/- 0.5) x 10(-3)], higher than predicted by some models of pprocess nucleosynthesis. It may be possible to use this isotopic pair as a chronometer of the early solar system.

Carbynes: carriers of primordial noble gases in meteorites

Five carbynes (triply bonded allotropes of carbon) have been found by electron diffraction in the Allende and Murchison carbonaceous chondrites: carbon VI, VIII, X, XI, and (tentatively) XII. From the isotopic composition of the associated noble-gas components, it appears that the carbynes in Allende (C3V chondrite) are local condensates from the solar nebula, whereas at least two carbynes in Murchison (C2 chondrite) are of exotic, presolar origin. They may be dust grains that condensed in stellar envelopes and trapped isotopically anomalous matter from stellar nucleosynthesis.

Organized Element: Possible Indentification in Orgueil Meteorite

Ragweed pollen stained by the Gridley method becomes distorted so that it resembles Claus and Nagy's Type 5 organized element, a particle found in a Gridley-stained preparation of the Orgueil carbonaceous chondrite.

Noble Gases in the Murchison Meteorite: Possible Relics of s-Process Nucleosynthesis

The Murchison carbonaceous chondrite contains a new type of xenon component, enriched by up to 50 percent in five of the nine stable xenon isotopes, mass numbers 128 to 132. This component, comprising 5 x 10(-5) of the total xenon in the meteorite, is released at 1200 degrees to 1600 degrees C from a severely etched mineral fraction, and probably resides in some refractory mineral. Krypton shows a similar but smaller enrichment in the isotopes 80 and 82. Neon and helium released in the same interval also are quite anomalous, being highly enriched in the isotopes 22 and 3. These patterns are strongly suggestive of three nuclear processes believed to take place in red giants: the s process (neutron capture on a slow time scale), helium burning, and hydrogen shell burning. If this interpretation is correct, then primitive meteorites contain yet another kind of alien, presolar material: dust grains ejected from red giants.

Chemical composition of Earth, Venus, and Mercury

Model compositions of Earth, Venus, and Mercury are calculated from the premise that planets and chondrites underwent four identical fractionation processes in the solar nebula. Because elements of similar properties stay together in these processes, five constraints suffice to define the composition of a planet: mass of the core, abundance of U, and the ratios K/U, Tl/U, and FeO/(FeO + MgO). Complete abundance tables, and normative mineralogies, are given for all three planets. Review of available data shows only a few gross trends for the inner planets: FeO decreases with heliocentric distance, whereas volatiles are depleted and refractories are enriched in the smaller planets.

Condensation time of the solar nebula from extinct I in primitive meteorites

Mineral separates from five carbonaceous chondrites were dated by extinct 16 million year (129)I, in an attempt to establish the condensation time of the solar nebula. Two Fe(3)O(4) or Fe(3)O(4)-FeS samples from the Murchison and Orgueil meteorites are older than any other material dated thus far, and apparently formed within 2 x 10(5) years of each other. The great age, close isochronism, and primitive nature of the samples suggest that the event recorded was the condensation stage of the solar nebula. It provides a suitable zero point for the chronology of the early solar system. The (129)I/(127)I ratio during condensation of the nebula was (1.46 +/- 0.04) x 10(-4). The recrystallized C4 chondrite Karoonda began to retain (129)Xe 1.8 +/- 0.5 million years after the above event. This short cooling time implies rapid aceretion (</=1 million years) and a shallow origin (</=10 km) below the surface of its parent body.

Allende meteorite: Isotopically anomalous xenon is accompanied by normal osmium

The (184)Os/(190)Os ratio of six Allende meteorite samples was determined by neutron activation analysis. Four chromite concentrates gave a ratio differing from the terrestrial ratio by only -0.1 +/- 0.4%, although they contained highly anomalous xenon enriched by up to 67% in (124)Xe and 93% in (136)Xe. In view of this result and the normal isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in these fractions, it seems very unlikely that the xenon anomalies were produced in a supernova by the p and r processes. More probably, the xenon anomalies were established in the early solar system, by mass fractionation during trapping of noble gases in solids and by spontaneous fission of a superheavy element.Two other samples, containing osmium from the calcium,aluminum-rich inclusions, also gave an (184)Os/(190)Os ratio within -0.1 +/- 0.5% of the terrestrial value, although these inclusions show well-established anomalies in the light elements oxygen and magnesium, which appear to be due to pre-solar dust grains of distinctive nuclear history. Apparently the stellar source of the anomalous oxygen and magnesium did not synthesize heavier elements.

In vitro expansion of autonomously contracting, cardiomyogenic structures from rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss

In primary cell preparations from larvae of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, the formation of autonomously contracting cell aggregates was observed after 7 days. These contracting elements could be propagated and some aggregates were maintained over a period of 35 days. Electron microscopical and immunocytochemical examination revealed the presence of cardiomyocytes.

Culturable prokaryotic diversity of deep, gas hydrate sediments: first use of a continuous high-pressure, anaerobic, enrichment and isolation system for subseafloor sediments (DeepIsoBUG)

Deep subseafloor sediments may contain depressurization-sensitive, anaerobic, piezophilic prokaryotes. To test this we developed the DeepIsoBUG system, which when coupled with the HYACINTH pressure-retaining drilling and core storage system and the PRESS core cutting and processing system, enables deep sediments to be handled without depressurization (up to 25 MPa) and anaerobic prokaryotic enrichments and isolation to be conducted up to 100 MPa. Here, we describe the system and its first use with subsurface gas hydrate sediments from the Indian Continental Shelf, Cascadia Margin and Gulf of Mexico. Generally, highest cell concentrations in enrichments occurred close to in situ pressures (14 MPa) in a variety of media, although growth continued up to at least 80 MPa. Predominant sequences in enrichments were Carnobacterium, Clostridium, Marinilactibacillus and Pseudomonas, plus Acetobacterium and Bacteroidetes in Indian samples, largely independent of media and pressures. Related 16S rRNA gene sequences for all of these Bacteria have been detected in deep, subsurface environments, although isolated strains were piezotolerant, being able to grow at atmospheric pressure. Only the Clostridium and Acetobacterium were obligate anaerobes. No Archaea were enriched. It may be that these sediment samples were not deep enough (total depth 1126–1527 m) to obtain obligate piezophiles.

Long-term culture of a cell population from Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) head kidney

In vitro cultures of native fish cell lines are of great importance, both for basic research and applied science. In particular, there is strong demand for long-term growable cell lines from breeding fish, like sturgeon. Here, we describe the culture of cells from Siberian sturgeon (Acipenser baerii) head kidney. The cells have so far been cultured over a period of 12 months (24 passages). Cytochemical and immunocytochemical examination suggests that, in vitro, the cells exhibit markers that are indicative for different cell types. In particular, fat storing cells (adipocytes) were observed, and the expression of cytokeratins and glial fibrilar acidic protein (GFAP) can be concluded on the basis of immuncytochemical analysis. The observation of different morphologies additionally underlines the heterogeneity of the cell population and matches the typical behaviour of in vitro cultures of stem/progenitor cells. Different applications can be imagined.

[Reducing MRI artefacts by controlled combinations of para- and diamagnetic materials]

A theoretical mathematical model of dual-component paramagnetic and diamagnetic material to cancel metal-induced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) artifacts was investigated and evaluated. The magnetization produced by material causes gradient linearity distortion. By using materials with opposing paramagnetic and diamagnetic properties it is supposed to compensate these effects. Therefore the interferences by paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials on images in a closed 1.5 Tesla high field magnetic resonance imaging system was experimentally examined for different types of sequences and correlated to their magnetic susceptibility. Basing on this results the concept of dual-component materials to solve the problems of MRI--artifacts was theoretically checked by using the finite element method and experimentally in the MRI.

New insights into the mechanistic details of the carbonic anhydrase cycle as derived from the model system [(NH(3))(3)Zn(OH)](+)/CO(2): how does the H(2)O/HCO(3)(-) replacement step occur?

The full reaction path for the conversion of carbon dioxide to hydrogencarbonate has been computed at the B3LYP/6-311+G** level, employing a [(NH(3))(3)Zn(OH)](+) model catalyst to mimic the active center of the enzyme. We paid special attention to the question of how the catalytic cycle might be closed by retrieval of the catalyst. The nucleophilic attack of the catalyst on CO(2) has a barrier of 5.7 kcal mol(-1) with inclusion of thermodynamic corrections and solvent effects and is probably the rate-determining step. This barrier corresponds well with prior experiments. The intermediate result is a Lindskog-type structure that prefers to stabilize itself via a rotation-like transition state to give a Lipscomb-type product, which is a monodentate hydrogencarbonate complex. By addition of a water molecule, a pentacoordinated adduct with pseudo-trigonal-bipyramidal geometry is formed. The water molecule occupies an equatorial position, whereas the hydrogencarbonate ion is axial. In this complex, proton transfer from the Zn-bound water molecule to the hydrogencarbonate ion is extremely facile (barrier 0.8 kcal mol(-1)), and yields the trans,trans-conformer of carbonic acid rather than hydrogencarbonate as the leaving group. The carbonic acid molecule is bound by a short O...H-O hydrogen bond to the catalyst [(NH(3))(3)Zn(OH)](+), in which the OH group is already replaced by that of an entering water molecule. After deprotonation of the carbonic acid through a proton relay to histidine 64, modeled here by ammonia, hydrogencarbonate might undergo an ion pair return to the catalyst prior to its final dissociation from the complex into the surrounding medium.

Cs(2) fixation by carbonic anhydrase model systems-a new substrate in the catalytic cycle

The conversion of CS(2) with common carbonic anhydrase model systems has been studied using Hartree-Fock and density-functional theory methods employing the 6-311+G basis set. The calculated geometries and energetical parameters for [L(3)ZnOH](+)/CS(2) model systems (L = NH(3), imidazole) are compared with those obtained previously for the CO(2) hydration. While the same reaction mechanism applies for both heterocumulenes, the hypothetical conversion of CS(2) to give [L(3)ZnSC(O)SH](+) is characterized by a higher barrier and is much more exothermic than the corresponding CO(2) reaction cascade. Due to the increased number of heteroatoms, additional intermediates and product structures (compared with those involved in the CO(2) conversion) must be taken into account and have been analyzed in detail. The smaller electrophilicity of CS(2) is the reason for the higher activation energies, while the significantly increased exothermicity is due to the strong zinc(II)/sulfur interaction. The reversibility and therefore the existence of a catalytic cycle which could allow comparable CS(2) transformations must be questioned. Nevertheless, an interesting field of stoichiometric zinc-mediated CS(2) transformations is conceivable.

Bis(1,3,4-thiadiazolo)-1,3,5-triazinium halides. 2. Intramolecular ring transformation and synthesis of novel highly substituted guanidines

Bis(1,3,4-thiadiazolo)-1,3,5-triazinium halides 6 can be easily attacked by nucleophiles at either the C(3a) or the C(4a) position of the central six-membered (cationic) ring. Nucleophilic attack leads to at least two reaction channels, one of which has been previously detected (pathway a) and leads to novel aminals 19. In this paper we report on a second channel (pathway b). Attack of primary or secondary amines 8 at C(3a) or C(4a) in 6 (and their analogues 7) leads to the weakly stabilized intermediates 14. A cascade of several proton shifts, ring openings, rearrangements, and ring closure processes is initiated which finally leads via 17 and 18 to novel highly substituted guanidines 9, 10, 12, and 13. Pathway b seems to be the result of well-balanced negative-hyperconjugative effects in 14 and/or 17 which control the highly selective opening of a relatively stable central 1,3,5-triazinium ring to yield the crucial intermediate 18. Some representatives of the guanidines have been characterized by X-ray analyses. Since some of the guanidines contain one or two chirality centers, an effort was made to investigate the stereochemistry of these compounds.

Pre-biotic organic matter from comets and asteroids

Several authors have suggested that comets or carbonaceous asteroids contributed large amounts of organic matter to the primitive Earth, and thus possibly played a vital role in the origin of life. But organic matter cannot survive the extremely high temperatures (>10(4) K) reached on impact, which atomize the projectile and break all chemical bonds. Only fragments small enough to be gently decelerated by the atmosphere--principally meteors of 10(-12)-10(-6) g--can deliver their organic matter intact. The amount of such 'soft-landed' organic carbon can be estimated from data for the infall rate of meteoritic matter. At present rates, only approximately 0.006 g cm-2 intact organic carbon would accumulate in 10(8) yr, but at the higher rates of approximately 4 x 10(9) yr ago, about 20 g cm-2 may have accumulated in the few hundred million years between the last cataclysmic impact and the beginning of life. It may have included some biologically important compounds that did not form by abiotic synthesis on Earth.

Clot lysis mediated by cultured human microvascular endothelial cells

The lysis of fibrin clots on the surface of cultured human omental tissue microvascular endothelial cells (HOTMEC) and cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) was studied. Fibrin clots were made by mixing fibrinogen, plasminogen and thrombin on the surface of both cell types. Clot lysis was seen only on the surface of HOTMEC, which were found to synthesize about 100-fold more tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen than HUVEC. Clot lysis of HOTMEC could be blocked by anti-tPA IgG but was not affected by the incorporation of exogenous plasminogen activator (PAI) into the clot in concentrations (75 arbitrary units) exceeding the tPA activity (21 +/- 2.5 IU) of the cells. Thus, it is likely that tPA secreted by HOTMEC is protected from inhibition by PAI in the presence of fibrin and endothelial cells. The stimulation of EC to release an excess of tPA over PAI, in contrast to the secretion of an excess of PAI over tPA found in unstimulated cells in the absence of fibrin, is obviously no prerequisite for the initiation of fibrinolysis on the surface of HOTMEC. As thrombin was used for clot formation, its influence on tPA and PAI synthesis of both cell types was investigated. In contrast to HOTMEC, which were not affected by alpha-thrombin, HUVEC revealed a dose-dependent increase in tPA and PAI synthesis upon incubation with the enzyme. This increase in tPA production by HUVEC was not sufficient to lyse the clots within 48 hours. Furthermore, HUVEC behaved differently towards thrombin as these cells in contrast to HOTMEC revealed the typical shape change reaction upon incubation with the enzyme.

Attachment of cultured human endothelial cells is promoted by specific association with S protein (vitronectin) as well as with the ternary S protein-thrombin-antithrombin III complex

The interaction of the multifunctional S protein (vitronectin) with cultured human endothelial cells of macrovascular and microvascular origin was investigated. Purified S protein, coated on polystyrene Petri dishes, induced dose-dependent and time-dependent attachment and spreading of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as well as human omental tissue microvascular endothelial cells (HOTMECs) at 37 degrees C. Not only isolated S protein, but also the ternary S protein-thrombin-antithrombin III (STAT) complex promoted attachment of approximately 90% of the cells within 2 hours at an S protein concentration of 0.13 mumol/L. Inhibition of attachment in these experiments was achieved by the addition of the cell-attachment pentapeptide Gly-Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser and by monospecific antibodies against S protein, whereas nonrelated peptides or antibodies against fibronectin, fibrinogen, or von Willebrand factor (vWF) were ineffective. Direct binding of S protein to HUVECs and HOTMECs was studied with cells in suspension at a density of 1 x 10(6) cells/mL and was maximal after 120 minutes. S protein bound to both cell types in a dose-dependent fashion with an estimated dissociation constant Kd = 0.2 mumol/L. At a 200-fold to 500-fold molar excess of unlabeled S protein, greater than 80% of bound radiolabeled S protein was displaceable, whereas binding was reduced to 30% to 50% by addition of the pentapeptide, the STAT complex, or by physiologic concentrations of fibrinogen or vWF as well as Fab fragments of anti(human S protein)IgG, but not by Fab rabbit IgG. These findings present evidence for the specific association of S protein with endothelial cells ultimately leading to attachment and spreading of cells. Moreover, a novel function for the ternary STAT complex, which induced endothelial cell attachment and spreading virtually identical to free S protein, is described. These data further suggest a possible role for S protein during coagulation as major vessel wall-related adhesive protein at sites of vascular injury.

Microvascular endothelial cells from human omental tissue: modified method for long-term cultivation and new aspects of characterization

A method for long-term cultivation of large amounts of human microvascular endothelial cells from the omental tissue (human omental tissue microvascular endothelial cells, HOTMECs) was devised. The method originally described by Kern, Knedler, and Eckel was modified: HOTMECs were isolated by enzymatic dissociation with collagenase. For primary cultivation and passages, HOTMECs were plated either onto fibronectin-coated petri dishes or onto a human fibroblast extracellular matrix (HFB-ECM) prepared from the same tissue. Omental tissue (10-15 g) yielded 4-8 X 10(5) HOTMECs; more than 90% of the cells adhered to precoated dishes and grew in Waymouth's culture medium supplemented with 20% heat-inactivated fetal calf serum. Confluence was reached 3-5 days after seeding with an average of 1-2 X 10(6) cells/dish. Confluent HOTMEC layers were subcultured at a split ratio of 1:3 up to 11 passages by plating the cells onto dishes coated with HFB-ECM and maintained in long-term culture for up to 3 months. The endothelial origin of these cells was demonstrated as follows. The cells in culture showed the typical "cobblestone" growth pattern and synthesized von Willebrand factor (vWF) as determined by metabolic labeling. Using an indirect immunostaining technique, the cytoplasm of the HOTMECs stained for vWF. A monoclonal antibody specific for human endothelial cells bound exclusively to the cultured cells. The expression of thrombomodulin on the surface of the cultured cells was demonstrated by the activation of protein C by thrombin. In control experiments, these features could be detected on neither fibroblasts nor mesothelial cells.

Differences in coagulant and fibrinolytic activities of cultured human endothelial cells derived from omental tissue microvessels and umbilical veins

Large vessel and microvascular endothelial cells were compared in their capacity to synthesize and secrete coagulant and fibrinolytic factors. Human omental tissue microvascular endothelial cells (HOTMEC) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) were isolated, grown to confluency under identical conditions, and studied in primary cultures. After an incubation period of 12 hours in serum-free medium, the conditioned medium of confluent HOTMEC contained 100-fold higher levels of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) antigen than that of HUVEC. The conditioned media as well as the lysates of both cell types did not contain any free tPA activity, but the free plasminogen activator inhibitor capacity was found intracellularly as well as extracellularly. Although von Willebrand factor was detected in both cell types by immunofluorescence, measurable amounts were only found in HUVEC using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The kinetics of protein C activation by thrombin on the surface of once-passaged cells were identical for HOTMEC and HUVEC. The present study indicates that cultivated HOTMEC produce larger quantities of tPA than HUVEC do, possess smaller amounts of von Willebrand factor than HUVEC do, and express thrombomodulin for protein C activation as effectively as HUVEC.

Method for the determination of fast acting plasminogen activator inhibitor capacity (PAI-cap) in plasma, platelets and endothelial cells

A titration assay for the determination of the fast acting plasminogen activator inhibitor capacity (PAI-cap) was developed. Most of the hitherto published assays for fast acting PAI are reported to have the disadvantage of non-parallel titration curves of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) in buffer and plasma. In the assay reported here, this problem has been overcome by adequate predilution of the samples, thus achieving parallel titration curves regardless of the individual PAI-cap of a sample. Provided that values are calculated from parallel titration curves, reproducible PAI-cap values at different dilutions of a sample are obtained. This assay can be applied for the determination of PAI-cap in plasma, serum and other biological fluids as platelet releasates and endothelial cell conditioned medium. PAI-cap of plasma of 10 healthy male volunteers ranged from 15.3 to 32.3 arbitrary inhibitor units AU/ml (24.5 +/- 5.2, mean +/- SD). The alternative use of three different anticoagulants (citrate, EDTA, heparin) had no influence on PAI-cap determinations. Serum generated from blood contained a mean of PAI-cap of 129% in comparison to the plasma of the same donor indicating the release of PAI from cells during clotting. Plasma PAI-cap changed during the day with a constant decrease from the highest levels in the morning (100%) to low levels in the evening (62.9%). Platelets aggregated by thrombin released plasminogen activator inhibitor amounting to a mean PAI-cap of 4.33 +/- 2.98 AU per 2.5 X 10(8) cells.

Physicochemical, immunochemical and functional comparison of human S-protein and vitronectin. Evidence for the identity of both plasma proteins

The comparison of the complement inhibitor s-protein, isolated from human plasma, with vitronectin, a serum spreading factor, revealed a high degree of similarity of both proteins with respect to molecular weight, band pattern in polyacrylamide gels in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate and amino acid composition. While radiolabeled S-protein was precipitated by antiserum against vitronectin, both proteins exhibited precipitin lines of complete identity in double immunodiffusion analysis when tested mutually against antisera of the appropriate components. The functional property of vitronectin to promote cell spreading of fibroblasts was also documented for purified S-protein. These findings indicate a high degree of similarity with respect to structural and functional properties of S-protein and vitronectin and hence may implicate that both proteins are identical.

Cretaceous Extinctions: Evidence for Wildfires and Search for Meteoritic Material

Clay samples from three Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary sites contain 0.36 to 0.58 percent graphitic carbon, mainly as fluffy aggregates of 0.1 to 0.5 micrometers-apparently a worldwide layer of soot. It may have been produced by wildfires triggered by a giant meteorite. This carbon, corresponding to a global abundance of 0.021 +/- 0.006 gram per square centimeter, could have greatly enhanced the darkening and cooling of the earth by rock dust, which has been suggested as a cause of the extinctions. The surprisingly large amount of soot (10 percent of the present biomass of the earth) implies either that much of the earth's vegetation burned down or that substantial amounts of fossil fuels were ignited also. The particle-size distribution of the soot is similar to that assumed for the smoke cloud of "nuclear winter," but the global distribution is more uniform and the amounts are much greater, suggesting that soot production by large wildfires is about 10 times more efficient that has been assumed for a nuclear winter. Thus cooling would be more pervasive and lasting. No trace of meteoritic noble gases and no meteoritic spinel were found in these carbon fractions. Accordingly, limits can be set on the mass fraction of the meteorite that escaped degassing (</=3 x 10(-5)) or vaporization (</=0.04). Thus it seems unlikely that comets contributed significant amounts of prebiotic organic matter to the primitive earth.

Barium Isotopes in Allende Meteorite: Evidence Against an Extinct Superheavy Element

Carbon and chromite fractions from the Allende meteorite that contain isotopically anomalous xenon-131 to xenon-136 (carbonaceous chondrite fission or CCF xenon) at up to 5 x 10(11) atoms per gram show no detectable isotopic anomalies in barium-130 to barium-138. This rules out the possibility that the CCF xenon was formed by in situ fission of an extinct superheavy element. Apparently the CCF xenon and its carbonaceous carrier are relics from stellar nucleosynthesis.

Interstellar Carbon in Meteorites

The Murchison and Allende chondrites contain up to 5 parts per million carbon that is enriched in carbon-13 by up to + 1100 per mil (the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-13 is approximately 42, compared to 88 to 93 for terrestrial carbon). This "heavy" carbon is associated with neon-22 and with anomalous krypton and xenon showing the signature of the s-process (neutron capture on a slow time scale). It apparently represents interstellar grains ejected from late-type stars. A second anomalous xenon component ("CCFXe") is associated with a distinctive, light carbon (depleted in carbon-13 by 38 per mil), which, however, falls within the terrestrial range and hence may be of either local or exotic origin.

Carbynes in Meteorites: Detection, Low-Temperature Origin, and Implications for Interstellar Molecules

Carbon from the Allende meteorite is not graphite but carbyne (triply bonded elemental carbon), inasmuch as on heating to 250 degrees to 330 degrees C it releases mainly triply bonded fragments: -(C identical withC)(n),- with n = 1 to 5, and -(C identical withC)(n)-CN, with n = 1 to 3. Although carbynes have been known to form only by condensation of carbon vapor above 2600 K or by explosive shock of > 600 kilobars, it is found that they also form metastably by the reaction 2CO --> CO(2) + C (solid) at 300 degrees to 400 degrees C in the presence of a chromite catalyst. Such low-temperature formation by surface catalysis may be the dominant source of carbynes on the earth and in meteorites, and a major source of interstellar carbynes and cyanopolyacetylenes.

Primordial Noble Gases in Chondrites: The Abundance Pattern Was Established in the Solar Nebula

Ordinary chondrites, like carbonaceous chondrites, contain primordial noble gases mainly in a minor phase comprising </=0.05 percent of the meteorite, probably an iron-chromium sulfide. The neon-20/argon-36 ratios decrease with increasing argon-36 concentration, as expected if the gas pattern was established by condensation from the solar nebula, and was negligibly altered by metamorphism in the meteorite parent bodies. Meteoritic and planetary matter apparently condensed over a substantial range of temperatures.

Mars and Earth: Origin and Abundance of Volatiles

Mars, like Earth, may have received its volatiles in the final stages of accretion, as a veneer of volatile-rich material similar to C3V carbonaceous chondrites. The high (40)Ar/(36)Ar ratio and low (36)Ar abundance on Mars, compared to data for other differentiated planets, suggest that Mars is depleted in volatiles relative to Earth-by a factor of 1.7 for K and 14 other moderately volatile elements and by a factor of 35 for (36)Ar and 15 other highly volatile elements. Using these two scaling factors, we have predicted martian abundances of 31 elements from terrestrial abundances. Comparison with the observed (36)Ar abundance suggests that outgassing on Mars has been about four times less complete than on Earth. Various predictions of the model can be checked against observation. The initial abundance of N, prior to escape, was about ten times the present value of 0.62 ppb, in good agreement with an independent estimate based on the observed enhancement in the martian (15)N/(14)N ratio (78,79). The initial water content corresponds to a 9-m layer, close to the value of >/=13 m inferred from the lack of an (18)O/(16)O fractionation (75). The predicted crustal Cl/S ratio of 0.23 agrees exactly with the value measured for martian dust (67); we estimate the thickness of this dust layer to be about 70 m. The predicted surface abundance of carbon, 290 g/cm(2), is 70 times greater than the atmospheric CO(2) value, but the CaCO(3) content inferred for martian dust (67) could account for at least one-quarter of the predicted value. The past atmospheric pressure, prior to formation of carbonates, could have been as high as 140 mbar, and possibly even 500 mbar. Finally, the predicted (129)Xe/(132)Xe ratio of 2.96 agrees fairly well with the observed value of 2.5(+2)(-1) (85). From the limited data available thus far, a curious dichotomy seems to be emerging among differentiated planets in the inner solar system. Two large planets (Earth and Venus) are fairly rich in volatiles, whereas three small planets (Mars, the moon, and the eucrite parent body-presumably the asteroid 4 Vesta) are poorer in volatiles by at least an order of magnitude. None of the obvious mechanisms seems capable of explaining this trend, and so we can only speculate that the same mechanism that stunted the growth of the smaller bodies prevented them from collecting their share of volatiles. But why then did the parent bodies of the chondrites and shergottites fare so much better? One of the driving forces behind the exploration of the solar system has always been the realization that these studies can provide essential clues to the intricate network of puzzles associated with the origin of life and its prevalence in the universe. In our own immediate neighborhood, Mars has always seemed to be the planet most likely to harbor extraterrestrial life, so the environment we have found in the vicinity of the two Viking landers is rather disappointing in this context. But the perspective we have gained through the present investigation suggests that this is not a necessary condition for planets at the distance of Mars from a solar-type central star. In other words, if it turns out that Mars is completely devoid of life, this does not mean that the zones around stars in which habitable planets can exist are much narrower than has been thought (114). Suppose Mars had been a larger planet-the size of Earth or Venus-and therefore had accumulated a thicker veneer and had also developed global tectonic activity on the scale exhibited by Earth. A much larger volatile reservoir would now be available, there would be repeated opportunities for tapping that reservoir, and the increased gravitational field would limit escape from the upper atmosphere. Such a planet could have produced and maintained a much thicker atmosphere, which should have permitted at least an intermittently clement climate to exist. How different would such a planet be from the present Mars? Could a stable, warm climate be maintained? It seems conceivable that an increase in the size of Mars might have compensated for its greater distance from the sun and that the life zone around our star would have been enlarged accordingly.