Summary: | Xe-129 - Xe-128 and Ar-40 - Ar-39 analyses has been performed on two Antarctic enstatite meteorites, the chondrite Y-691 and the aubrite (enstatite achondrite) ALH-78113. Both meteorites have complex Ar-40 - Ar-39 release patterns to which no unambiguous age assignment is possible. Both give apparently satisfactory Xe-129 - Xe-128 correlations corresponding to unusual ages. The I-Xe age of the chondrite Y-691 is 16 Ma after Bjurbole, not unusual for chondrites in general but 10 Ma later than previously known ages for enstatite chondrites. The I-Xe age of the aubrite ALH-78113 is 210 Ma after Bjurbole, the latest age (rather than a limit) so far observed by the I-Xe technique, but this age assignment must be considered tentative because of the possibility that it is significantly influenced by terrestrial I contamination.
|