On Atmospheric Loss of Oxygen Ions from Earth Through Magnetospheric Processes
Abstract
In Earth's environment, the observed polar outflow rate for O+ ions, the main source of oxygen above gravitational escape energy, corresponds to the loss of ∼18% of the present-day atmospheric oxygen over 3 billion years. However, part of this apparent loss can actually be returned to the atmosphere. Examining loss rates of four escape routes with high-altitude spacecraft observations, we show that the total oxygen loss rate inferred from current knowledge is about one order of magnitude smaller than the polar O+outflow rate. This disagreement suggests that there may be a substantial return flux from the magnetosphere to the low-latitude ionosphere. Then the net oxygen loss over 3 billion years drops to ∼2% of the current atmospheric oxygen content.
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We thank all GEOTAIL science members for their collaboration. This work was carried out under the auspices of the Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.
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Published In
Science
Volume 291 | Issue 5510
9 March 2001
9 March 2001
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Received: 15 December 2000
Accepted: 29 January 2001
Published in print: 9 March 2001
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