Cosmic-ray-induced radioactivities in meteorites—II Al26, Be10 and Co60, aerolites, siderites and tektites

doi:10.1016/0016-7037(58)90075-9

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volume 14, Issue 4, October 1958, Pages 364-379

https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(58)90075-9 Get rights and content

Abstract

The long-lived radionuclides Al²⁶ and Be¹⁰ and the 5 year Co⁶⁰ have been detected in stone and iron meteorites. The highest levels observed, in disintegrations per minute per gram of specimen were: in stone, Al²⁶, 0.063; Be¹⁰, 0.0051; Co⁶⁰, 0.0018; in iron, Al²⁶, 0.0055; Be¹⁰, 0.00070; Co⁶⁰, 0.033. The Al²⁶ and Be¹⁰ were evidently produced by cosmic-ray bombardment of the meteorites before fall. The Co⁶⁰ seems to have been produced principally by neutron capture in ordinary cobalt in recent years while the specimens were on earth, although disintegration of the long-lived Fe⁶⁰ may contribute some Co⁶⁰.

The Be¹⁰: Al²⁶ ratio is definitely lower in the Plainview chondrite than in the Richardton chondrite, suggesting that the former may have existed as a small body for only about a million years. The presence of both activities in the Odessa siderite indicates that it and its associated craters are probably less than about a million years old. The absence of these activities in the Canyon Diablo siderite is probably ascribable to a shielded position of the specimen inside the large meteoroid.

Al²⁶ is definitely and Be¹⁰ fairly certainly present in australites, indicating that tektites are glass meteorites and have spent at least a million years or so in space. Both activities are also present in Libyan Desert silica-glass, indicating that it is a variety of tektite. From the Al²⁶ and Be¹⁰ levels or limits, in comparison with the levels in chondrites, the following approximate terrestrial ages or limits, in millions of years, are calculated: australites, <0.5; Libyan Desert silica-glass, 3.5; bediasites, >1.2; moldavites, >3.

Measurements of these and other nuclides can give valuable information on the pre-fall and post-fall histories of meteorites and on the past intensity of the cosmic radiation. The average cosmic-ray flux over the past several million years appears not to have been grossly different from the present value. nergy

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^☆: This work has been suported the U.S. Automic Energy Commission.

^†: The research described in this paper was submitted by W. D. Bhmann in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree at Carnegie Institute of Technology. Present address: University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

View full text

Cosmic-ray-induced radioactivities in meteorites—II Al26, Be10 and Co60, aerolites, siderites and tektites☆

Abstract

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. et Cosmochim. Acta

Jb. Geol. Reichsanst. Wien

Flanges of australites (tektites)

Mem. Nat. Mus. Victoria, Melb.

North American tektites

Univ. Texas Publ. No. 3945

New tektite areas in Texas

Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer.

Radiation age of a meteorite from cosmic-ray-produced He3 and H3

Phys. Rev.

The age of Meteor Crater (Arizona)

Science

Australite investigations and their bearing on the tektite problem

Meteoritics

Silica-glass from the Libyan Desert

Miner. Mag.

The silica glass of the Libyan Desert

Bull. Inst. Fouad 1. du Desert

Attempt to detect the antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor by the Cl37 (v̄, e−)A37 reaction

Phys. Rev.

Chlorine- 36 in nature

Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.

The effects of cosmic radiation on iron meteorites

Z. Naturf.

Cosmic-ray-induced Radioactivities in Meteorites and Tektites

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Report NYO-6634

Origin of Meteor Crater (Coon Butte), Arizona

Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer.

Australites. Part I: Classification of the W.H.C. Shaw collect ion

Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust.

Australites. Part II: Numbers, forms, distribution, and origin

Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust.

Australites. Part III: A contribution to the problem of the origin of tektites

Trans. Roy. Soc. S. Aust.

Sandtube fulgarites and their bearing on the tektite problem

Rec. S. Aust. Mus.

Tektites

Science

Argon and helium determinations in iron meteorites

Z. Naturf.

Cosmic-ray-induced radioactivity in meteorites and tektites

Principles of Meteoritics

The tektites of Indo-China

Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris

Cosmic-ray-induced radioactivities in meteorites—II Al²⁶, Be¹⁰ and Co⁶⁰, aerolites, siderites and tektites☆

Radiation age of a meteorite from cosmic-ray-produced He³ and H³

Attempt to detect the antineutrinos from a nuclear reactor by the Cl³⁷ ( $v ̄$ , e⁻)A³⁷ reaction