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Title: Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary

Abstract

As a result of the radioactive decay of rhenium-187 (4.6 x 10/sup 10/ years) the osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio changes in planetary systems as a function of time and the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio. For a value of the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 3.2, typical of meteorites and the earth's mantle, the present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio is about 1. The earth's continental crust has an estimated rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 400, so that for a mean age of the continent of 2 x 10/sup 9/ years, a present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 10 is expected. Marine manganese nodules show values (6 to 8.4) compatible with this expectation if allowance for a 25 percent mantle osmium supply to the oceans is allowed. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary iridium-rich layer in the marine section at Stevns Klint, Denmark, yields an osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of 1.65, and the one in a continental section in the Raton Basin, Colorado, is 1.29. The simplest explanation is that these represent osmium imprints of predominantly meteoritic origin.

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Yale Univ., New Haven, CT
OSTI Identifier:
5314102
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; BOUNDARY LAYERS; CONTAMINATION; OSMIUM 186; ORIGIN; OSMIUM 187; COLORADO; CONTINENTAL CRUST; DENMARK; HALF-LIFE; METEORITES; QUANTITY RATIO; RHENIUM 187; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; EARTH CRUST; EUROPE; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; EVEN-ODD NUCLEI; FEDERAL REGION VIII; HEAVY NUCLEI; ISOTOPES; LAYERS; NORTH AMERICA; NUCLEI; ODD-EVEN NUCLEI; OSMIUM ISOTOPES; RADIOISOTOPES; RHENIUM ISOTOPES; SCANDINAVIA; STABLE ISOTOPES; USA; WESTERN EUROPE; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; 520301* - Environment, Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Water- (1987)

Citation Formats

Luck, J M, and Turekian, K K. Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. United States: N. p., 1983. Web. doi:10.1126/science.222.4624.613.
Luck, J M, & Turekian, K K. Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.222.4624.613
Luck, J M, and Turekian, K K. 1983. "Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary". United States. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.222.4624.613.
@article{osti_5314102,
title = {Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary},
author = {Luck, J M and Turekian, K K},
abstractNote = {As a result of the radioactive decay of rhenium-187 (4.6 x 10/sup 10/ years) the osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio changes in planetary systems as a function of time and the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio. For a value of the rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 3.2, typical of meteorites and the earth's mantle, the present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio is about 1. The earth's continental crust has an estimated rhenium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 400, so that for a mean age of the continent of 2 x 10/sup 9/ years, a present-day osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of about 10 is expected. Marine manganese nodules show values (6 to 8.4) compatible with this expectation if allowance for a 25 percent mantle osmium supply to the oceans is allowed. The Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary iridium-rich layer in the marine section at Stevns Klint, Denmark, yields an osmium-187/osmium-186 ratio of 1.65, and the one in a continental section in the Raton Basin, Colorado, is 1.29. The simplest explanation is that these represent osmium imprints of predominantly meteoritic origin.},
doi = {10.1126/science.222.4624.613},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5314102}, journal = {Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Nov 11 00:00:00 EST 1983},
month = {Fri Nov 11 00:00:00 EST 1983}
}