FOSSIL RECORDS OF NUCLEAR FISSION

Journal Article · Thu Feb 13 04:00:00 EST 1964 · New Scientist

OSTI ID:4116433

Fleischer, R L; Price, P B; Walker, R M

A discovery that some common minerals preserve the traces of natural fission of nuclei millions of years ago led to the establishment of a new means of dating rocks and other objects. Fossil tracks were discovered in the vicinity of a mica pleochroic halo. It was found that tracks in minerals can arise either from the spontaneous fission of a uranium atom or from collision of a cosmic ray with the nucleus of a heavy atom. Although spontaneous fission is rare, it does occur at a predictable rate, a factor that allows calculation of the time interval since solidification. Fossil track studies make possible the dating of very young minerals in a region of the time scale inaccessible to previously existing techniques. Accuracy of the method is good when results are compared with objects of known age. Tektite and impactite ages were measured by the method, and it was found that each of the impactites falls into one of the three tektite age groups, indicating a common origin. Future applications of fossil track dating will include the examination of meteorites. (H.M.G.)

• Research Organization: General Electric Research Lab., Schenectady, N.Y.
• NSA Number: NSA-18-012371
• OSTI ID: 4116433
• Journal Information: New Scientist, Journal Name: New Scientist Vol. Vol: 21
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AGE ESTIMATION
ATOMS
COSMIC RADIATION
FISSION
GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY
ISOTOPES
METEORITES
MICA
MINERALS
NUMERICALS
PLANTS
ROCKS
SOLUTIONS
TEKTITES
URANIUM