Element separation chemistry and cosmogenic ¹⁰Be dating of a ferromanganese crust

Author(s)

D. Koll, A. Wallner, S. Battisson, S. Fichter, L. K. Fifield, M. B. Froehlich, J. Lachner, S. Merchel, S. Pavetich, G. Rugel, Z. Slavkovská, S. G. Tims, R. Ziegenrücker

Abstract

Oceanic archives are contemporary witnesses of Earth's recent astrophysical history by incorporating extraterrestrial radionuclides. VA13/2 - 237KD is one of the most studied ferromanganese crusts and it has been shown that the crust contains live interstellar 60Fe. Here, we have characterized a large piece of this crust with a 3D optical scan, a micro-CT scan and 3D modeling, followed by the chemical extraction of highly purified, element-specific fractions for accelerator mass spectrometry. High-accuracy cosmogenic 10Be dating of two independent drill-holes showed a time-dependent variability in growth rate across the surface of the crust. This well-characterized crust is used to search for interstellar radionuclides, such as supernova-produced 60Fe and the r-process nuclide 244Pu. Other extraterrestrial radionuclides including 26Al, 53Mn, 129I, 182Hf or 247Cm could be investigated in the future.

Organisation(s)

Isotope Physics

External organisation(s)

Australian National University, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

Journal

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms

Volume

530

Pages

53-58

No. of pages

6

ISSN

0168-583X

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2022.08.017

Publication date

11-2022

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103014 Nuclear physics, 103004 Astrophysics

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Instrumentation

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/b659930c-3edb-4840-9534-cb6ebf0408f1