Reply to comment on “Chondritic-like xenon trapped in Archean rocks: A possible signature of the ancient atmosphere” by Pujol, M., Marty, B., Burgess, R., Earth and Planetary Science Letters 308 (2011) 298–306 by Pepin, R.O.

We thank Pepin (2013) for pointing-out an interesting issue concerning the interpretation of the xenon isotope data that we recently published (Pujol et al., 2011). We have analyzed noble gases trapped in quartz fluid inclusions from the 3.5 Ga-old Dresser Formation (Western Australia). Ar–Ar dating of the quartz yielded an age of 3.0±0.2 Ga, slightly younger than the formation age, but still clearly within the Archean eon. This study focused on the Xe isotopic signature of these fluids: the non-fissiogenic isotopes of xenon appear isotopically fractionated, with about 1% amu−1 enrichment in light isotopes. This isotopic mass fractionation was interpreted to represent an intermediate stage of atmosphere evolution.