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Exposure history of lunar meteorites Queen Alexandra Range 93069 and 94269
Author(s) -
NISHIIZUMI K.,
CAFFEE M. W.,
JULL A. J. T.,
REEDY R. C.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/j.1945-5100.1996.tb02122.x
Subject(s) - meteorite , cosmogenic nuclide , astrobiology , cosmic ray , geology , accelerator mass spectrometry , radionuclide , queen (butterfly) , meteoroid , astronomy , physics , paleontology , radiocarbon dating , nuclear physics , hymenoptera , botany , biology
— Cosmic‐ray produced 14 C (t 1/2 = 5730 years), 36 Cl (3.01 × 10 5 years), 26 Al (7.05 × 10 5 years), and 10 Be (1.5 × 10 6 years) in the recently discovered lunar meteorites Queen Alexandra Range 93069 (QUE 93069) and 94269 (QUE 94269) were measured by accelerator mass spectrometry. The abundance pattern of these four cosmogenic radionuclides and of noble gases indicates QUE 93069 and QUE 94269 were a paired fall and were exposed to cosmic rays near the surface of the Moon for at least several hundred million years before ejection. After the meteorite was launched from the Moon, where it had resided at a depth of 65–80 g/cm 2 , it experienced a short transition time, ∼20–50 ka, before colliding with the Earth. The terrestrial age of the meteorite is 5–10 ka. Comparison of the cosmogenic nuclide concentrations in QUE 93069/94269 and MAC 88104/88105 clearly shows that these meteorites were not ejected by a common event from the Moon.