Neutrons cosmic

C isotopa, continuously formed in the earth s atm by the bombardment of nitrogen with cosmic neutrons according to the reaction J4N + Jn — + H. The 4C is rapidly oxi-... 

There is subterranean production of chlorine-36 and the world average chlorine contents of granite and basalt have been given as around 50 and 200 ppm, respectively. Sedimentary rocks have variable contents ranging from 10 ppm in sandstones to 20,000 ppm in deep-sea limestones. Rock outcrops are exposed to the cosmic neutron flux so that some chlorine-36 results from neutron capture by chlorine-35, but, below a few meters, it is ineffectual. Nonetheless, some chlorine-36 results from an in situ neutron flux in rock matrices caused by (a,n) reactions triggered by alpha particles from uranium and thorium radioactive decay systems. This flux may be of the order of 10 cm s (Kuhn et al. 1984). 

In exceptional circumstances, a reduction in impurity peaks could result in the appearance of indium capture gamma-ray peaks in the background spectrum. Replacing stainless-steel items with high-purity copper also has a down-side copper can be activated (n, a) by cosmic neutrons to Co. 

Table 13.9 Examples of gamma energies produced by cosmic neutrons in a shielded germanium...

Carbon 14 has a half-life of 5730 years. It would have disappeared from the earth s atmospheric carbon dioxide a long time ago if it were not re-formed by the action of cosmic neutrons on the nitrogen in the atmosphere. 

Carbon 14 is produced continuously in the atmosphere at a rate of 27 000 curies or lO" Bq per year by the action of cosmic neutrons. 

As cosmic rays pass through the upper atmosphere, some of the present is converted to by the capture of high-energy neutrons. The then migrates into... 

The principal source of natural tritium is the nuclear reactions induced by cosmic radiation in the upper atmosphere, where fast neutrons, protons, and deuterons coUide with components of the stratosphere to produce tritium ... 

S2-4 Helium burning as additional process for nucleogenesis 19S4 Slow neutron absorption added to stellar reactions 195S-7 Comprehensive theory of stellar synthesis of all elements in observed cosmic abundances 196S 2.7 K radiation detected... 

Carbon-14 is produced in the atmosphere by the interaction of neutrons from cosmic radiation with ordinary nitrogen atoms ... 

Carbon-12 is the principal isotope of carbon, but a small proportion of carbon-14 is present in all living organisms. Its nuclei are produced when nitrogen nuclei in the atmosphere are bombarded by neutrons formed in the collisions of cosmic rays with other nuclei ... 

The composition of the Earth was determined both by the chemical composition of the solar nebula, from which the sun and planets formed, and by the nature of the physical processes that concentrated materials to form planets. The bulk elemental and isotopic composition of the nebula is believed, or usually assumed to be identical to that of the sun. The few exceptions to this include elements and isotopes such as lithium and deuterium that are destroyed in the bulk of the sun s interior by nuclear reactions. The composition of the sun as determined by optical spectroscopy is similar to the majority of stars in our galaxy, and accordingly the relative abundances of the elements in the sun are referred to as "cosmic abundances." Although the cosmic abundance pattern is commonly seen in other stars there are dramatic exceptions, such as stars composed of iron or solid nuclear matter, as in the case with neutron stars. The... 

Most CO and CO2 in the atmosphere contain the mass 12 isotope of carbon. However, due to the reaction of cosmic ray neutrons with nitrogen in the upper atmosphere, C is produced. Nuclear bomb explosions also produce C. The C is oxidized, first to CO and then to C02 by OH- radicals. As a result, all CO2 in the atmosphere contains some 0, currently a fraction of ca. 10 of all CO2. Since C is radioactive (j -emitter, 0.156 MeV, half-life of 5770 years), all atmospheric CO2 is slightly radioactive. Again, since atmospheric CO2 is the carbon source for photos5mthesis, aU biomass contains C and its level of radioactivity can be used to date the age of the biological material. 

The most abundant isotope is which constitutes almost 99% of the carbon in nature. About 1% of the carbon atoms are There are, however, small but significant differences in the relative abundance of the carbon isotopes in different carbon reservoirs. The differences in isotopic composition have proven to be an important tool when estimating exchange rates between the reservoirs. Isotopic variations are caused by fractionation processes (discussed below) and, for C, radioactive decay. Formation of takes place only in the upper atmosphere where neutrons generated by cosmic radiation react with nitrogen ... 

The measurement of the cosmic microwave background. Far infrared astronomers were the first to develop thermal detectors. Some of the resulting technologies, such as neutron transmutation doping (NTD) [3], have been transferred to particle detection sensors and have allowed many groups (e.g., ref. [4-11] to make rapid progress). 

The two isotopes of carbon that occur naturally are 12C (98.89%) and 13C (1.11%). Cosmic rays produce neutrons that interact with 14N in the upper atmosphere to produce 14C and protons,... 

Big Bang nucleosynthesis (cosmic nucleosynthesis) Proton-proton cycle Triple He collisions Alpha capture CNO cycle Neutron capture High-energy photon collisions produce antimatter-matter pairs. This leads to H,D, He and some Li nuclei Hydrogen burning to produce He 12C production Addition of 4He to the nucleus Production of 13C, 13N, 14N and 150 Post-Fe nuclei... 

Marti, K. and Lugmair, G. W., "81Kr-Kr and K-40Ar ages, cosmic-ray spallation products and neutron effects in lunar samples from Oceanus Procell arum", Proc. Second Lunar Sci. Conf., 1971, 2, 1591-1605. 

Radiocarbon (14C) is produced in the atmosphere by the cosmic ray neutron flux interacting with 14N[14N(n,p)14C], The 14C hot1 atom then equilibrates with atmospheric C02 which participates in the C-0 cycle and passes into the food chain (biosphere). Most of the radiocarbon is taken up by the oceans which constitute the largest reservoir of C02 within the secondary geochemical cycle. 

Nuclides (i.e., 14C and 3H) formed by continuing natural nuclear transformations driven by cosmic rays, natural sources of neutrons, or energetic particles that are formed in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays... 

In addition to these stable isotopes, many elements have one or more radioactively unstable isotopes, which are produced either as a result of specific nuclear processes (such as 14C, which is the result of the interaction of neutrons produced by cosmic radiation with 14N in the atmosphere) or as daughter... 

The interaction of neutrons with organic molecules occurs mainly through knock-on of protons. Thus, the radiation chemistry is similar to proton irradiation. Radiation chemistry by positive ions is of increasing importance on account of ion implantation technology, plasma development and deposition processes, and cosmic irradiation. 

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