Abstract
RECENT investigations have demonstrated the widespread presence of the inert gases in the crystalline rocks, and the Hon. R. J. Strutt has shown that while the bulk of the gases in granite consists of nitrogen, there is a small but appreciable quantity of argon and helium, the former amounting to from three to four times the latter. On the disintegration of the rocks a portion of these must find their way into the atmosphere. The question arises whether our present atmosphere contains the accumulations of past accessions from the earth's crust, in the same way as the sodium chloride in the sea represents, subject to certain qualifications, the sum of the contributions of the rivers in the past.
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EVANS, J. Helium in the Atmosphere . Nature 77, 535 (1908). https://doi.org/10.1038/077535a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/077535a0
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