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Spontaneous fission xenon in natural gases

Wasserburg, G. J. and Mazor, E. (1963) Spontaneous fission xenon in natural gases. In: Nuclear geology on geothermal areas. Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche , Pisa, pp. 71-93. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141008-100731638

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Abstract

In the study of natural gases it is particularly important to be able to distinguish between terrestrial juvenile components and those which are of atmospheric origin. The most positive identification of juvenile components is made from studying the isotopic enrichments of those elements which are produced by naturally occurring nuclear processes. Such results may indicate the presence of components which have never been mixed with the atmosphere. Rather extensive studies have been made by various workers on He^4 and Ar^(40) produced by radioactive decay (ALDRICH and NIER 1948, BOATO, CARERI, and SANTANGELO 1957, WASSERBURG, CZAMANSKE, FAUL and HAYDEN 1957, DAMON and KULP 1958, ZARTMAN, WASSERBURG and REYNOLDS 1961, WASSERBURG, MAZOR, and ZARTMAN 1963). In addition to these decay products, the spontaneous fission of U^(238) also contributes, xenon and krypton as gaseous daughter products. These spontaneous fission (and neutron fission) products have been detected in minerals by several workers (KHLOPIN, GERLING and BARANOVSKYA 1947, 1948, MACNAMARA and THODE 1950, WETHERILL 1953, FLEMING and THODE 1953, GERLING and SHOKOLIVKOV 1959, GERLING, SHOKOLIKOV, and MAKAROCHKIN 1959, YOUNG and THODE 1960). In a recent study by BUTLER, JEFFERY, REYNOLDS and WASSERBURG (1963) spontaneous fission xenon was found both in samples of granite and in two samples of natural gases. More recently CLARKE and THODE (1963) have studied some terrestrial natural gases and found contributions of spontaneous fission xenon.


Item Type:Book Section
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Wasserburg, G. J.0000-0002-7957-8029
Additional Information:© 1963 Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche. This work was supported by a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society and a contract from the United States Atomic Energy Commission. The authors wish to thank W. M. DEATON of the United States Bureau of Mines and J. RITCHIE of the Carbonic Chemicals Company for supplying them with samples.
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Funding AgencyGrant Number
American Chemical Society Petroleum Research FundUNSPECIFIED
Atomic Energy CommissionUNSPECIFIED
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Caltech Division of Geological Sciences1216
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20141008-100731638
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20141008-100731638
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ID Code:50263
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:09 Oct 2014 22:58
Last Modified:09 Mar 2020 13:19

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