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Radioactive Isotopes in Hoba West and Other Iron Meteorites
Author(s) -
McCORKELL R. H.,
FIREMAN E. L.,
D'AMICO J.,
THOMPSON S. O.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
meteoritics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 0026-1114
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1968.tb00378.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , isotope , spallation , radiochemistry , iron meteorite , chemistry , neutron , astrobiology , nuclear physics , physics
The radioactivities Be 10 , Al 2 6, Cl 36 , Mn 53 , Ni 59 , and Co 60 and the rare gas isotopes were measured in a sample taken from the surface of the Hoba meteorite. The spallation‐produced radioactivities indicate that the sample was at a depth of 35 to 40 cm when the body was in space. The Ni 59 activity indicates that the terrestrial age of Hoba is less than 80,000 years. Its Cl 36 ‐Ar 36 exposure age is 263±40 million years. The Cl 36 and rare‐gas isotopes were also measured in the Deelfontein meteorite; its Cl 36 ‐Ar 36 exposure age is 400±40 million years. The Cl 36 and the Ni 59 were also measured in a sample of Sikhote‐Alin. In both Hoba and Sikhote‐Alin the Ni 59 , which is a neutron‐produced isotope, is higher than would be expected from the Cl 36 content. This indicates that solar flares contributed to the neutron‐produced isotopes in these iron meteorites.