Exposure of Allan Hills 84001 and other achondrites on the Antarctic ice

The enrichment of F on Antarctic meteorites is the result of their exposure to the atmosphere, and its measurement allows a subdivision of the terrestrial age into a
duration of exposure on the ice and the time a meteorite was enclosed by the ice. In many cases, the periods of surface exposure are only small fractions of the
terrestrial ages of meteorites collected in Antarctica. The enrichment of F on the surfaces of Antarctic achondrites was investigated by means of nuclear reaction
analysis (NRA): scanning proton beams with an energy of 2.7 and 3.4 MeV were used to induce the reactions F-19(p,alpha gamma)160 and
F-19(p,p'gamma)F-19, respectively. Gamma signals proportional to the F content were measured. The following Antarctic achondrites were investigated: Martian
meteorite ALH 84001; diogenite ALHA77256; the eucrites ALHA81011 and ALHA78132; and in addition, the H5 chondrite ALHA79025. For ALH 84001, our
data indicate a period of exposure on the ice of <500 years. Thus, this specimen was enclosed in the ice >95% of its terrestrial age of 13 000 years.