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/sup 10/Be profiles in lunar surface rock 68815

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6460601

Cosmic ray produced /sup 10/Be (t/sub 1/2/ = 1.6 x 10/sup 6/ years) activities have been measured in fourteen carefully ground samples of lunar surface rock 68815. The /sup 10/Be profiles from 0 to 4 mm are nearly flat for all three surface angles measured and show a very slight increase with depth from the surface to a depth of 1.5 cm. These depth profiles are in contrast to the SCR (solar cosmic ray) produced /sup 26/Al and /sup 53/Mn profiles measured from these same samples. There is no sign of SCR produced /sup 10/Be in this rock. The discrepancy between the data and the Reedy-Arnold theoretical calculation (about 2 dpm /sup 10/Be/kg at the surface) can be explained in two ways: (1) the low energy proton induced cross sections for /sup 10/Be production from oxygen are really lower than those used in the calculations or, (2) compared to the reported fits for /sup 26/Al and /sup 53/Mn, the solar proton spectral shape is actually softer (exponential rigidity parameter Ro less than 100 MV), the omnidirectional flux above 10 MeV is higher (more than 70 protons/cm/sup 2/ s), and the erosion rate is higher (greater than 1.3 mm/My). /sup 10/Be, as a high energy product, is a very useful nuclide for helping to obtain the SCR spectral shape in the past. 23 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

Research Organization:
California Univ., San Diego, La Jolla (USA). Dept. of Chemistry; Tokyo Univ., Tanashi (Japan). Inst. for Nuclear Study; Nihon Univ., Tokyo. Coll. of Humanities and Sciences; Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Research Center for Nuclear Science and Technology; Tokyo Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Science; Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-36
OSTI ID:
6460601
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-87-1995; CONF-870396-4; ON: DE87011776
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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