This study has also confirmed that a mantle plume (i.e. Additionally, the researchers have calculated that the sampled gas is very old, dating back as far as 4.45 billion years ago. As xenon found in the atmosphere originates from a different unidentified source, possibly from comets, these findings suggest that at least two types of sources contributed to the formation of volatile elements on Earth. The team have discovered that xenon was brought to Earth by extra-terrestrial bodies similar to asteroids, whose remnants are now located between Mars and Jupiter. The researchers then measured the abundance of xenon and its isotopic composition with a state-of-the-art spectrometer. Bernard Marty, from the Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques (France), reports to have succeeded in separating xenon, the heaviest noble gas, from other gases in collected samples. In a paper published online in Nature on 25 April, a research team, including ERC Advanced grantee Prof. Previous studies have shown that carbon dioxide bubbling in this well originates in the underlying terrestrial mantle. This sparkling CO 2-rich water is situated in the Eifel volcanic region. The discovery of fossil noble gases in the mineral spring water of Viktoriaquelle in southwest Germany has provided an excellent opportunity to examine the factors that influenced the Earth's formation. This makes them easily contaminated by the atmosphere, and challenging to measure with precision. Colourless, odourless, tasteless and non-flammable, these chemical elements are extremely rare. Noble gases from the Earth's interior are, however, very difficult to analyse. Because of their multiple isotopes (or forms) of various origins, noble gases stored in the Earth's mantle are used by researchers to trace the physical processes that took place within the Earth's various layers at this time. How the Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago remains quite enigmatic.
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