Exposure and terrestrial ages of four Allan Hills Antarctic meteorites

Terrestrial ages of meteorites are based on the amount of cosmic-ray-produced radioactivity in the sample and the number of observed falls that have similar cosmic-ray exposure histories. The cosmic-ray exposures are obtained from the stable noble gas isotopes. Noble gas isotopes are measured by hig...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Kirsten, T., Ries, D., Fireman, E. L.
Language:unknown
Published: 1978
Subjects:
91
Online Access:http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19790042425
Description
Summary:Terrestrial ages of meteorites are based on the amount of cosmic-ray-produced radioactivity in the sample and the number of observed falls that have similar cosmic-ray exposure histories. The cosmic-ray exposures are obtained from the stable noble gas isotopes. Noble gas isotopes are measured by high-sensitivity mass spectrometry. In the present study, the noble gas contents were measured in four Allan Hill meteorites (No. 5, No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8), whose C-14, Al-26, and Mn-53 radioactivities are known. These meteorites are of particular interest because they belong to a large assemblage of distinct meteorites that lie exposed on a small (110 sq km) area of ice near the Allan Hills.