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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Cosmic-ray exposure records and origins of meteorites

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5516997
The cosmic-ray records of meteorites can be used to infer much about their origins and recent histories. Some meteorites had simple cosmic-ray exposure histories, while others had complex exposure histories with their cosmogenic products made both before and after a collision in space. The methods used to interpret meteorites' cosmic-ray records, especially identifying simple or complex exposure histories, often are inadequate. Besides spallogenic radionuclides and stable nuclides, measurements of products that have location-sensitive production rates, such as the tracks of heavy cosmic-ray nuclei or neutron-capture nuclides, are very useful in accurately determining a meteorite's history. Samples from different, known locations of a meteorite help in studying the cosmic-ray record. Such extensive sets of meteorite measurements, plus theoretical modeling of complex histories, will improve our ability to predict the production of cosmogenic nuclides in meteorites, to distinguish simple and complex exposure histories, and to better determine exposure ages.
Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
5516997
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-85-1922; CONF-850883-3; ON: DE85012759
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English