Experimental test of the superheavy fission hypothesis in acid residues from the allende meteorite

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

OSTI ID:6846144

Flynn, G J

A description of a series of experiments to find evidence to confirm or contradict the hypothesis that isotopically anomalous Xe (called CCF-Xe) in carbonaceous chondrite meteorites results from the fission decay of a superheavy element is given. The first two experiments were searches for fossil evidence - fission tracks and isotopic anomalies - of superheavy fission decay in the Allende carbonaceous chondrite. It was demonstrated that chromite, a mineral rich in CCF-Xe, records fission tracks, and a search for such tracks in Allende chromite was performed with negative results. It was also demonstrated in certain CCF-XE rich phases of Allende, isotopic anomalies like those seen in Xe should be detectable in Ba and the light rare earths. Preliminary results from a collaborative measurement (with the University of Paris) show the Ba isotopic ratios to be normal in a CCF-Xe rich Allende sample. The third experiment was motivated by reports of the detection of a live, fissioning superheavy element, using a neutron counting technique, in bulk Allende (Flerov, 1978). Since almost all of the allegedly fissiogenic Xe in Allende is concentrated in certain acid insoluble phases, we developed a technique to detect low-level fission activity in these phases. Allende acid insoluble residue (provided by the University of Chicago) was dispersed in a 1 mg/cm/sup 2/ layer, between two track recording detectors. An automatic track locating system was developed to allow large detector areas to be scanned for rate fission events.

• Research Organization: Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6846144
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
BARIUM
CHONDRITES
DATA
ELEMENTS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FISSION TRACKS
FLUIDS
GASES
HALF-LIFE
INFORMATION
ISOTOPE RATIO
ISOTROPY
METALS
METEORITES
NONMETALS
NUMERICAL DATA
PARTICLE TRACKS
RARE GASES
RESIDUES
STONE METEORITES
TRANS 104 ELEMENTS
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
XENON