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Lugmair, G. W.

Publications and source records attributed to Lugmair, G. W..

41 records · Page 3

On Pu-244 in lunar rocks from Fra Mauro and implications regarding their origin.

The evidence for in situ produced fission xenon from Pu-244 in rock 14321 is presented. The inferred abundance ratio Pu-244/U-238 is found to be consistent with values observed in a meteorite. Data from a stepwise release of the xenon permits a characterization of the trapped component, which can be shown to be distinct from solar xenon. We discuss the evidence for the presence of fission gases and of uncorrelated radiogenic argon in this and in other Apollo 14 rocks and some implications regarding their origin.

Marti, K.↗

Exposure ages and neutron capture record in lunar samples from Fra Mauro.

Cosmic-ray exposure ages of Apollo 14 rocks and rock fragments obtained by the Kr81-Kr83 method range from 27 to 700 m.y. Rock 14321, collected near the Cone crater rim, is one of the many approximately 27 m.y. old ejecta which were reported at the Third Lunar Science Conference. All the other rocks have considerably higher exposure ages. Isotopic anomalies from neutron capture in gadolinium, bromine, and barium are used to obtain information on the lunar neutron spectrum at various depths below the lunar surface. The flux ratio of resonance and slow (less than 0.3 eV) neutrons is found to be nearly constant in the topmost approximately 100 g/sq cm.

Lugmair, G. W.↗

Neutron capture effects in lunar gadolinium and the irradiation histories of some lunar rocks.

The Gd isotopic composition in 19 lunar rock and soil samples from three Apollo sites is reported. The analytical techniques and the high precision mass spectrometric measurements are discussed. Enrichments in the Gd-158 oxide to G-157 oxide ratio due to neutron capture range up to 0.75%. Integrated 'thermal' neutron fluxes derived from the isotopic anomalies of Gd are compared with spallation Kr data from aliquot samples to construct a model which gives both average cosmic-ray irradiation depths and effective neutron exposure ages for some rocks. Rock 14310 is the first lunar sample where Kr anomalies due to resonance neutron capture in Br are observed. A Kr-81/Kr exposure age of 262 (plus or minus 7)m.y. is calculated for this rock.

Lugmair, G. W.↗