Cosmogenic Carbon-14 and Chlorine-36 in Meteorites (open access)

Cosmogenic Carbon-14 and Chlorine-36 in Meteorites

In 1947 Bauer, and later independently Huntley (1948), pointed out that the helium content of iron meteorites as measured by Paneth and coworkers could be accounted for by the accumulation through cosmic-ray production rather then the decay of uranium and thorium. Bauer (1947) also predicted that the meteroitic helium should contain a significant proportion of He3. I was realized that by studying the effects of cosmic radiation on meteorites much could be learned about the history of meteorite and cosmic radiation. Chemical and instrumental techniques have been developed for the isolation, purification, and measurement of cosmic-ray-induced C14 in both stone and iron meteorites. The isolation of carbon from the silicate materials is done by fusion in an oxidizing flux in a vacuum system. From the iron meteorites the carbon is recovered by the decomposition of the metal in nitric acid in a closed system.
Date: June 4, 1962
Creator: Goel, Parmatma S.
System: The UNT Digital Library