Host phase of a strange xenon component in Allende
The host phase of an enigmatic Xe component in the Allende meteorite, which may have been produced by spontaneous fission of an extinct super-heavy element has been isolated. The fission Xe resides in a minor fraction comprising 0.5 percent of the meteorite, and consisting of chromite, an unknown Cr, Fe- mineral (Q, possibly a sulfide), and amorphous carbon. More than one-half of the trapped noble gases in the meteorite are located in these three minerals. Mineral Q contains gases of essentially solar isotopic composition (most of the Ar, Kr, and Xe, and some He and Ne) while chromite-carbon contains gases of strongly fractionated isotopic composition (Ne, Ar, Kr enriched in heavy isotopes, and Xe enriched in light isotopes). Both gas components, and the progenitor of the fission Xe, may have been trapped in these minerals when they formed the solar nebula. (auth)
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Chicago
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- NSA Number:
- NSA-33-021066
- OSTI ID:
- 4085645
- Journal Information:
- Science, v. 190, no. 4221, pp. 1251-1262, Journal Name: Science, v. 190, no. 4221, pp. 1251-1262; ISSN SCIEA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
*TRANS 104 ELEMENTS-- NATURAL OCCURRENCE
*XENON ISOTOPES-- FISSION YIELD
640107* --Physics Research--Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
CARBON
CHROMIUM
IRON
N56700* --Physics (Astrophysics & Cosmology)--Planetary Phenomena
RARE GASES
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
SPONTANEOUS FISSION
SULFIDES
XENON