Uranium decay

Ratios of U and U to Th and Ra daughters, combined with differences in chemical reactivity have been used to investigate the formation and weathering of limestone in karst soils of the Jura Mountains, and of the mountains in the central part of Switzerland. Uranium contained within calcite is released during weathering, and migrates as stable uranyl(VI) carbonato complexes through the soil. In contrast, the uranium decay products, Th and Ra,... 

Oversby VM, Gast PW (1968) Lead isotope composition and uranium decay series disequilibrimn in recent volcanic rocks. Earth Planet Sci Lett 5 199-206... 

O Hara MJ (1968) The bearing of phase equilibria studies in synthetic and natural systems on the origin and evolution of basic and ultrabasic rocks. Earth Sci Rev 4 69-133 O Nions RK, McKenzie D (1993) Estimates of mantle thorium/uranium ratios from Th, U and Pb isotope abundances in basaltic melts. Phil Trans Royal Soc 342 65-77 Oversby V, Gast PW (1968) Lead isotope compositions and uranium decay series disequilibrium in reeent volcanic rocks. Earth Planet Sci Lett 5 199-206... 

Williams RW, Gill JB (1989) Effects of partial melting on the uranium decay series. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53 1607-1619... 

Wendt Jl, Regelous M, Collerson KD, Ewart A (1997) Evidence for a contribution from two mantle plumes to island arc lavas from northern Tonga. Geology 25 611-614 Williams RW, Gill JB (1989) Effects of partial melting on the uranium decay series. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 53 1607-1619... 

Many scientists thought that Earth must have formed as long as 3.3 billion years ago, but their evidence was confusing and inconsistent. They knew that some of the lead on Earth was primordial, i.e., it dated from the time the planet formed. But they also understood that some lead had formed later from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. Different isotopes of uranium decay at different rates into two distinctive forms or isotopes of lead lead-206 and lead-207. In addition, radioactive thorium decays into lead-208. Thus, far from being static, the isotopic composition of lead on Earth was dynamic and constantly changing, and the various proportions of lead isotopes over hundreds of millions of years in different regions of the planet were keys to dating Earth s past. A comparison of the ratio of various lead isotopes in Earth s crust today with the ratio of lead isotopes in meteorites formed at the same time as the solar system would establish Earth s age. Early twentieth century physicists had worked out the equation for the planet s age, but they could not solve it because they did not know the isotopic composition of Earth s primordial lead. Once that number was measured, it could be inserted into the equation and blip, as Patterson put it, out would come the age of the Earth. ... 

Wiggins, R. (1976). Interpolation of digitized curves. Bull. Seism. Soc. Amer., 66, 2077-81. Wilkinson, J. H. (1965). The Algebraic Eigenvalue Problem. Oxford Clarendon Press. Williams, R. W. Gill, J. B. (1989). Effects of partial melting on the uranium decay series. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 53, 1607-19. 

Occurrence. The natural abundance of Tc is negligibly small. Technetium is a by-product of the nuclear industry and it is a product of the uranium decay. 

ISOTOPES There are 41 isotopes of polonium. They range from Po-188 to Po-219. All of them are radioactive with half-lives ranging from a few milliseconds to 102 years, the latter for its most stable isotope Po-209. Polonium is involved with several radioactive decay series, including the actinium series, Po-211 and Po-215 the thorium series, Po-212 and Po-216 and the uranium decay series, Po-210, Po-214, and Po-218. 

Most of the known chemistry of polonium is based on the naturally occurring radioactive isotope polonium-210, which is a natural radioactive decay by-product of the uranium decay series. Its melting point is 254°C, its boiling point is 962°C, and its density is 9.32g/cm. ... 

Uranium is the fourth metal in the actinide series. It looks much like other actinide metallic elements with a silvery luster. It is comparatively heavy, yet malleable and ductile. It reacts with air to form an oxide of uranium. It is one of the few naturally radioactive elements that is fissionable, meaning that as it absorbs more neutrons, it splits into a series of other lighter elements (lower atomic weights) through a process of alpha decay and beta emission that is known as the uranium decay series, as follows U-238—> Th-234—>Pa-234—>U-234—> Th-230 Ra-226 Rn-222 Po-218 Pb-2l4 At-218 Bi-2l4 Rn-218 Po-2l4 Ti-210—>Pb-210—>Bi-210 Ti-206—>Pb-206 (stable isotope of lead,... 

Uranium-238 has a half-life of 4.468 billion years over which time it decays into stable lead-206. This process can be used to date ancient rocks by comparing the ratio of the isotope lead-206, the last isotope in the uranium decay series, to the level of uranium-238 in the sample of rock to determine its age. This system has been used to date the oldest rocks on Earth as being about 4.5 billion years old, which is about the time of the formation of our planet. 

German physicist Friedrich Ernst Dorn Heavy, radioactive noble gas widely present results from uranium decay even present in soil highly toxic but valuable as a cancer treatment. 

Radium is an intermediate member of the uranium decay series. Therefore, it is present in all uranium minerals. Its abundance in uranium is calculated to be about 0.33ppm. 

The previous four chapters deal with the fractionation of stable trace elements during partial melting. In this chapter, we study the behaviors of radioactive uranium decay series during partial melting. Since quantitative models for uranium-series disequilibria need to include additional parameters in decay constants and are thus more complicated, for simplicity, we assume that the partition coefficients remain constant during partial melting. Thus, we only present modal dynamic melting. 

Equation (5.31) can be used to model the uranium decay series (U-series) nuclides in the residual melt that is in chemical equilibrium with the solid during dynamic partial melting ... 

The decay of °Th leads to radioisotopes of other elements, ultimately concluding with the stable isotope lead-206. Happily, some of the oldest rocks on Earth, called zircons, contain no lead when they are formed. This means that the amount of lead they accumulate over time from uranium decay reflects their age. Until the rocks crystallized, uranium atoms could move freely through the molten magma from which they formed, and decayed uranium could be replenished. Solidification of a zircon does for uranium what an organism s death does for radiocarbon it stops the influx of fresh radioactive material, and the decay clock starts ticking. Because of U s long half-life, zircons can be dated back to the Earth s earliest days. 

Measurement of Stellar Age from Uranium Decay , Nature, 409... 

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