Engineering topics

Jull, A. J. T.

Publications and source records attributed to Jull, A. J. T..

29 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS1990

Distribution of terrestrial age and petrologic type of meteorites from western Libya

A group of 54 meteorites have been recovered from Daraj, Western Libya. After assessment of pairing of samples, using petrologic criteria, C-14 terrestrial ages were obtained on 13 samples selected from 9 different fall events. Eleven of the ages range from 3500 to 7600 years, with only two samples having ages in excess of 10,000 years. The cutoff in ages may be related to the timing of climatic changes in the Hammadah al Hamra.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1990

On determining ice accumulation rates in the past 40,000 years using in situ cosmogenic C-14

Radiocarbon is produced in situ in ice by nuclear spallations of oxygen by cosmic ray neutrons. As the firn accumulates, it acquires a predictable concentration of in situ C-14, inversely proportional to the rate of accumulation. Most of this production occurs when the amount of overlying ice is less than (2-3) Lambda, where lambda is the absorption mean free path for cosmic radiation in ice, about 150 g/sq cm, i.e. within the top 10 m. In most accumulation areas, this is firn. In situ produced C-14 is added to the firn as it accumulates, and is not expected to be lost by diffusion. During the firn-ice transition, atmospheric CO2 is trapped, adding (C-14)02 to the ice. The signature of in situ C-14 is however not obliterated since about 60 percent of in situ C-14 is instantly oxidized to (C-14)O in the ice. The results available to date are discussed, and it is proposed that this in situ (C-14)O can be used to determine ice accumulation rates back to 40,000 yrs in the past.

Lal, D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Age of Allan Hills 82102, a meteorite found inside the ice

The terrestrial age of a meteorite that was recovered from below the surface of Antarctic ice is reported, and it is argued that this represents a measurement of the age of the ice itself. The cosmogenic radionuclides Be-10, C-14, Al-26, Cl-36, and Mn-53 are measured in the meteorite and Be-10 and Cl-36 in the ice. A terrestrial age of 11,000 yr is obtained for the meteorite, which suggests that the snow accumulation area where it fell was only a few tens of km away.

Nishiizumi, K.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Carbon-14 activities in recently fallen meteorites and Antarctic meteorites

This paper reports C-14 measurements in meteorites using an extraction method which employs RF melting of samples as small as 0.1 g. A study of extraction of cosmic-ray-produced C-14 in samples of Bruderheim gave C-14 levels between 38 and 60 dpm/kg for samples which had been preheated in air between 250 and 700 C, with a mean value of 46.8 + or - 1.4 dpm/kg. A range of values between 35 and 59 dpm/kg was found for other falls of saturated meteorites preheated to 500 C. The preheating step is shown to be effective in removing terrestrial carbon contamination. A series of samples previously dated by Kr-81 as having ages of 120-310 kyr gave C-14 levels of between less than 0.16 and 0.37 + or - 0.10 dpm/kg. These levels are consistent with levels of in situ production by cosmic rays at the earth's surface.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Rapid growth of magnesium-carbonate weathering products in a stony meteorite from Antarctica

Nesquehonite, a hydrous magnesium carbonate, occurs as a weathering product on the surface of the Antarctic meteorite LEW 85320 (H5 chondrite). Isotopic measurements of delta(C-13) and delta(O-18) indicate that the nesquehonite formed at near freezing temperatures by reaction of meteoritic minerals with terrestrial water and carbon dioxide. Results from carbon-14 dating suggest that, although the meteorite has been in Antarctica for at least 32,000 to 33,000 years, the nesquehonite formed after AD 1950.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Terrestrial C-14 age of the Antarctic shergottite, EETA 79001

The terrestrial age of the Elephant Moraine shergottite EETA 79001 (lithology A) has been determined from measurement of its cosmogenic C-14 content as 12 +/- 2 kyr. The results on saturated and blank samples of 1 g or less are also discussed. The age calculated for EETA 79001 is compared to exposure and terrestrial ages of other shergottites in the light of possible origins of these meteorites on Mars.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Radionuclide measurements by accelerator mass spectrometry at Arizona

Over the past years, Tandem Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (TAMS) has become established as an important method for radionuclide analysis. In the Arizona system the accelerator is operated at a thermal voltage of 1.8MV for C-14 analysis, and 1.6 to 2MV for Be-10. Samples are inserted into a cesium sputter ion source in solid form. Negative ions sputtered from the target are accelerated to about 25kV, and the injection magnet selects ions of a particular mass. Ions of the 3+ charge state, having an energy of about 9MeV are selected by an electrostatic deflector, surviving ions pass through two magnets, where only ions of the desired mass-energy product are selected. The final detector is a combination ionization chamber to measure energy loss (and hence, Z), and a silicon surface-barrier detector which measures residual energy. After counting the trace iosotope for a fixed time, the injected ions are switched to the major isotope used for normalization. These ions are deflected into a Faraday cup after the first high-energy magnet. Repeated measurements of the isotope ratio of both sample and standards results in a measurement of the concentration of the radionuclide. Recent improvements in sample preparation for C-14 make preparation of high-beam current graphite targets directly from CO2 feasible. Except for some measurements of standards and backgrounds for Be-10 measurements to date have been on C-14. Although most results have been in archaeology and quaternary geology, studies have been expanded to include cosmogenic C-14 in meteorites. The data obtained so far tend to confirm the antiquity of Antarctic meteorites from the Allan Hills site. Data on three samples of Yamato meteorites gave terrestrial ages of between about 3 and 22 thousand years.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Carbon-14 ages of Antarctic meteorites with accelerator and small-volume counting techniques

C-14 measurements were made on six Yamato and Victoria Land meteorites using tandem accelerator mass spectroscopy. The studies brought to 27 the number of Antarctic meteorites that have been examined for terrestrial aging. Details of the spectroscopic method are provided, along with the results in combinations with the data from the other 21 meteorites. It is found that the Yamato meteorites are younger than those found at Allan Hills, implying that two mechanisms may exist for the abundant Antarctic meteorites: exposure where falling due to a paucity of ice, and transport and exposure by sublimating ice.

Jull, A. J. T.↗

NASA NTRS1977

The exposure history of the Apollo 16 site: An assessment based on methane and hydrolysable carbon

Nineteen soils from eight stations at the Apollo 16 landing site have been analyzed for methane and hydrolysable carbon. These results, in conjunction with published data from photogeology, bulk chemistry, rare gases, primordial and cosmogenic radionuclides, and agglutinate abundances have been interpreted in terms of differing contributions from three components-North and South Ray Crater ejecta and Cayley Plains material.

Pillinger, C. T.↗

NASA NTRS1977

The analysis of various size, visually selected and density and magnetically separated fractions of Luna 16 and 20 samples

Samples of Luna 16 and 20 have been separated according to size, visual appearance, density, and magnetic susceptibility. Selected aliquots were examined in eight British laboratories. The studies included mineralogy and petrology, selenochronology, magnetic characteristics, Mossbauer spectroscopy, oxygen isotope ratio determinations, cosmic ray track and thermoluminescence investigations, and carbon chemistry measurements. Luna 16 and 20 are typically mare and highland soils, comparing well with their Apollo counterparts, Apollo 11 and 16, respectively. Both soils are very mature (high free iron, carbide, and methane and cosmogenic Ar), while Luna 16, but not Luna 20, is characterized by a high content of glassy materials. An aliquot of anorthosite fragments, handpicked from Luna 20, had a gas retention age of about 4.3 plus or minus 0.1 Gy.

Eglinton, G.↗

NASA NTRS1974

The exposure history of the Apollo 16 sites. An assessment based on methane and carbide measurements

Soils from eight stations at the Apollo 16 landing site have been analyzed for methane and carbide. These results, in conjunction with published data from photogeology, bulk chemistry, rare gases, primordial and radionuclides, and agglutinate abundances have been interpreted in terms of differing contributions from three components, North and South Ray crater ejecta and Cayley Plains material.

Pillinger, C. T.↗