416 research outputs found
The Search for Supernova-produced Radionuclides in Terrestrial Deep-sea Archives
An enhanced concentration of 60Fe was found in a deep ocean's crust in 2004
in a layer corresponding to an age of ~2 Myr. The confirmation of this signal
in terrestrial archives as supernova-induced and detection of other
supernova-produced radionuclides is of great interest. We have identified two
suitable marine sediment cores from the South Australian Basin and estimated
the intensity of a possible signal of the supernova-produced radionuclides
26Al, 53Mn, 60Fe and the pure r-process element 244Pu in these cores. A finding
of these radionuclides in a sediment core might allow to improve the time
resolution of the signal and thus to link the signal to a supernova event in
the solar vicinity ~2 Myr ago. Furthermore, it gives an insight on
nucleosynthesis scenarios in massive stars, the condensation into dust grains
and transport mechanisms from the supernova shell into the solar system
AMS measurements of cosmogenic and supernova-ejected radionuclides in deep-sea sediment cores
Samples of two deep-sea sediment cores from the Indian Ocean are analyzed
with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to search for traces of recent
supernova activity around 2 Myr ago. Here, long-lived radionuclides, which are
synthesized in massive stars and ejected in supernova explosions, namely 26Al,
53Mn and 60Fe, are extracted from the sediment samples. The cosmogenic isotope
10Be, which is mainly produced in the Earths atmosphere, is analyzed for dating
purposes of the marine sediment cores. The first AMS measurement results for
10Be and 26Al are presented, which represent for the first time a detailed
study in the time period of 1.7-3.1 Myr with high time resolution. Our first
results do not support a significant extraterrestrial signal of 26Al above
terrestrial background. However, there is evidence that, like 10Be, 26Al might
be a valuable isotope for dating of deep-sea sediment cores for the past few
million years.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of the Heavy Ion Accelerator
Symposium on Fundamental and Applied Science, 2013, will be published by the
EPJ Web of conference
Search for supernova-produced 60Fe in a marine sediment
An 60Fe peak in a deep-sea FeMn crust has been interpreted as due to the
signature left by the ejecta of a supernova explosion close to the solar system
2.8 +/- 0.4 Myr ago [Knie et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 171103 (2004)]. To
confirm this interpretation with better time resolution and obtain a more
direct flux estimate, we measured 60Fe concentrations along a dated marine
sediment. We find no 60Fe peak at the expected level from 1.7 to 3.2 Myr ago.
However, applying the same chemistry used for the sediment, we confirm the 60Fe
signal in the FeMn crust. The cause of the discrepancy is discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR
41Ca in tooth enamel. part I: A biological signature of neutron exposure in atomic bomb survivors
The detection of 41Ca atoms in tooth enamel using accelerator mass spectrometry is suggested as a method capable of reconstructing thermal neutron exposures from atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In general, 41Ca atoms are produced via thermal neutron capture by stable 40Ca. Thus any 41Ca atoms present in the tooth enamel of the survivors would be due to neutron exposure from both natural sources and radiation from the bomb. Tooth samples from five survivors in a control group with negligible neutron exposure were used to investigate the natural 41Ca content in tooth enamel, and 16 tooth samples from 13 survivors were used to estimate bomb-related neutron exposure. The results showed that the mean 41Ca/Ca isotope ratio was (0.17 ± 0.05) × 10-14 in the control samples and increased to 2 × 10-14 for survivors who were proximally exposed to the bomb. The 41Ca/Ca ratios showed an inverse correlation with distance from the hypocenter at the time of the bombing, similar to values that have been derived from theoretical free-in-air thermal-neutron transport calculations. Given that γ-ray doses were determined earlier for the same tooth samples by means of electron spin resonance (ESR, or electron paramagnetic resonance, EPR), these results can serve to validate neutron exposures that were calculated individually for the survivors but that had to incorporate a number of assumptions (e.g. shielding conditions for the survivors).Fil: Wallner, A.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; Alemania. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: Ruhm, W.. Helmholtz Center Munich German Research Center For Environmental Health; Alemania. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Rugel, G.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; Alemania. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Nakamura, N.. Radiation Effects Research Foundation; JapónFil: Arazi, Andres. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Faestermann, T.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; AlemaniaFil: Knie, K.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemania. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Maier, H. J.. Ludwig Maximilians Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Korschinek, G.. Universitat Technical Zu Munich; Alemani
First Measurement of the 64Ni(gamma,n)63Ni Cross Section
Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike LicenceIn the past 10 years new and more accurate stellar neutron capture cross section measurements have changed and improved the abundance predictions of the weak s process. Among other elements in the region between iron and strontium, most of the copper abundance observed today in the solar system distribution was produced by the s process in massive stars. However, experimental data for the stellar 63Ni(n,gamma)64Ni cross section are still missing, but is strongly required for a reliable prediction of the copper abundances. 63Ni (t1/2 =101.2 a) is a branching point and also bottleneck in the weak s process flow, and abehaves differently during core He and shell C burning. During core He burning the reaction flow proceeds via beta-decay to 63Cu, and a change of the 63Ni(n,gamma)64Ni cross section would have no influence. However, this behavior changes at higher temperatures and neutron densities during the shell C burning phase. Under these conditions, a significant amount of the s process nucleosynthesis flow is passing through the channel 62Ni(n,gamma)63Ni(n,gamma)64Ni. At present only theoretical estimates are available for the 63Ni(n,gamma)64Ni cross section. The corresponding uncertainty affects the production of 63Cu in present s process nucleosynthesis calculations and propagates to the abundances of the heavier species up to A=70. So far, experimental information is also missing for the inverse 64Ni(gamma,n) channel. We have measured for the first time the 64Ni(gamma,n)63Ni cross section and also combined for the first time successfully the photoactivation technique with subsequent Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS). The activations at the ELBE facility in Dresden-Rossendorf were followed by the 63Ni/64Ni determination with AMS at the MLL accelerator laboratory in Garching. First results indicate that theoretical predictions have overestimated this cross section up to now. If this also holds for the inverse channel 63Ni(n,gamma)64Ni, more 63Ni is accumulated during the high neutron density regime of the C shell that will contribute to the final abundance of 63Cu by radiogenic decay. In this case, also a lower s process efficiency is expected for the heavier species along the neutron capture path up to the Ga-Ge regio
The Ni(n,) cross section measured with DANCE
The neutron capture cross section of the s-process branch nucleus Ni
affects the abundances of other nuclei in its region, especially Cu and
Zn. In order to determine the energy dependent neutron capture cross
section in the astrophysical energy region, an experiment at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory has been performed using the calorimetric 4 BaF
array DANCE. The (n,) cross section of Ni has been determined
relative to the well known Au standard with uncertainties below 15%.
Various Ni resonances have been identified based on the Q-value.
Furthermore, the s-process sensitivity of the new values was analyzed with the
new network calculation tool NETZ.Comment: 11 pages, 13 page
Solving the stellar 62Ni problem with AMS
An accurate knowledge of the neutron capture cross sections of 62,63Ni is
crucial since both isotopes take key positions which affect the whole reaction
flow in the weak s process up to A=90. No experimental value for the
63Ni(n,gamma) cross section exists so far, and until recently the experimental
values for 62Ni(n,gamma) at stellar temperatures (kT=30 keV) ranged between 12
and 37 mb. This latter discrepancy could now be solved by two activations with
following AMS using the GAMS setup at the Munich tandem accelerator which are
also in perfect agreement with a recent time-of-flight measurement. The
resulting (preliminary) Maxwellian cross section at kT=30 keV was determined to
be 30keV = 23.4 +/- 4.6 mb. Additionally, we have measured the
64Ni(gamma,n)63Ni cross section close to threshold. Photoactivations at 13.5
MeV, 11.4 MeV and 10.3 MeV were carried out with the ELBE accelerator at
Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. A first AMS measurement of the sample
activated at 13.5 MeV revealed a cross section smaller by more than a factor of
2 compared to NON-SMOKER predictions.Comment: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Accelerator Mass
Spectrometry in Rome, Sept. 14-19, 2008; to be published in Nucl. Instr.
Meth.
Abundance of live ²⁴⁴Pu in deep-sea reservoirs on earth points to rarity of actinide nucleosynthesis
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