Osmium-187/osmium-186 in manganese nodules and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary
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.
- Research Organization:
- Yale Univ., New Haven, CT
- OSTI ID:
- 5314102
- Journal Information:
- Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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520301* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Water- (1987)