α反冲径迹定年

与裂变迹径定年类似，α反冲径迹定年（Alpha-Recoil Track）也是基于天然放射性元素所释放核粒子在固体中产生可蚀刻径迹的积累。铀钍及它们的子体核素进行α衰变时形成α反冲径迹，当发射一个α粒子时，重的剩余核反冲并造成30-40nm的辐射损失痕迹，经过蚀刻α反冲径迹可在干涉相差显微镜下观测。如果在样品形成以后全部迹径被保留下来，那么测定它们的总数就可以得到样品的年龄。Α反冲径迹定年是一种刚刚开始研究的新型热年代学核分析技术，研究样品可以是单个小云母片（约0.5mm），定年范围102-106a，该方法对第四纪地质、地理、灾害及考古等领域有很大的应用潜力。     

Application of lattice imagery to radiation damage investigation in natural zircon

High-, intermediate-, and low-type zircon crystals of natural origin were investigated using a 1,000 kV high-resolution electron microscope. The lattice images obtained successfully for high zircon were in good accordance with computer simulated ones, and 1.5 Å separations, the nearest distance between zirconium atoms projected along the a axis, were clearly resolved under a certain instrumental condition. The images of fission tracks and surrounding areas show nearly perfect lattice images and that within the fission tracks, with a width of 20 ～ 30 Å and length of ca. 1,000 Å, the structure is heavily disordered, almost amorphous; that both sides of the tracks the lattices are displaced or dislocated, and that in the area adjacent to the tracks, bright and dark spot images occur, corresponding to vacancies and their interstitial atoms. In low zircon, the structure is completely destroyed to show an entirely amorphous state, whereas an intermediate type consists of domains of the order of 50 ～ 100 Å across with nearly regular lattices, along whose boundaries strongly disordered areas with widths of few tens of angstroms appear, but the relative orientations of the neighbouring domains are almost continuous. Thus a whole process of metamictization is visualized on a lattice scale. Metamictization proceeds principally by the formation of fission tracks, the direct result of fast movement of nuclear particles; recoil nuclei therefrom seem to play a less important role in the destruction of the structure.     

ESR dating of palaeolithic calcite: A comparison between powder and monocrystal spectra with thermal annealing

Evolution of ESR spectra with thermal annealing at different temperatures is studied for a monocrystal calcite taken in the Orgnac III site. Up to 20 ESR lines are recognized from the angular dependence of these lines. These lines are compared with the ESR lines observed for powder and rotating monocrystal calcites.The h1 line (g = 2.0057) and h3 line (g = 2.0007) are isotropic or nearly isotropic and are due to the electrons trapped in the amorphous region formed by fission tracks or alpha-ray recoil nuclei. The h2 line (g = 2.0021) is a composite of several different lines.     

Recoiling alpha-emitting nuclei. Mechanisms for uranium-series disequilibrium

High-sensitivity experiments with particles that are strongly enriched in alpha-emitting nuclei show that damaged regions are produced that can be eroded by subsequent exposure to water. Direct ejection of recoil nuclei from solid grains is also observed. These observations appear to supply a basis for understanding disequilibria between ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U in natural samples that have been exposed to water. The two mechanisms observed are expected to act under different natural conditions.     

Revelation of nuclear tracks and dislocations: A Monte Carlo simulation of mineral etching

A simple atomistic Monte Carlo simulation suggests that there are up to four stages in the evolution of an etch pit in the (0 0 1)-surface of an idealised regular lattice. During the first stage, the etch pit is an inverted pyramid; its horizontal and vertical dimensions increase at a constant rate; the apparent horizontal (v_h) and vertical (v_d) growth rates are faster than during all subsequent stages but nevertheless less than the step retreat rate (v_s) on account of surface etching (v_v). The pyramid apex is truncated in the second stage; it is thereafter bounded by an expanding bottom plane and shrinking lateral walls; this is accompanied by a gradual decrease of v_h; v_d drops to a negative value indicating a slow decrease of the etch-pit depth; the bottom plane acquires a concave-up curvature; the outward curvature of the walls, initiated during the first stage, increases. During the third stage the etch pit consists of a single concave-up bottom plane; v_h and v_d decrease at declining rates; consecutive etch-pit profiles are scalable in the horizontal direction. The hypothetical fourth stage is inferred but not documented by the simulations; it sets in when v_h is reduced to zero; unless this corresponds to an as yet unidentified steady-state condition, the etch pit from here on forth shrinks until it eventually disappears altogether. The sole cause for this succession is the process of stochastic rounding of confined steps and faces.The triangular footprint of recoil-track, fission-track, ion-track and dislocation etch pits in trioctahedral mica and its compliance with the monoclinic symmetries implies that the relevant periodic bond chains are O-Mg/Fe-O chains in the octahedral layer. The size distribution of etched recoil tracks is due to (1) depth variations resulting from the size distribution of the latent tracks, (2) the random truncation of the surface tracks, (3) the variable rate of etch-pit enlargement and (4) the fact that new tracks are exposed at the surface due to surface etching. The greater size of dislocation, fission-track and ion-track etch pits is due to their greater extent below the surface. The increase of the number of etched tracks with etching time due to bulk etching is non-linear because the bulk etch rate v_v is not constant. The evolution of etch-pit shape with continued etching can also cause loss of tracks due to observation effects related to loss of contrast.     

Etching of fission tracks in monazite: An experimental study

This study reports a range of etching and annealing experiments to establish the optimum conditions for the etching of fission tracks in monazite. The previously reported concentrated (12 M) HCl etchant at 90°C was found to cause grain loss from epoxy mounts and high degrees of grain corrosion, as did much longer etching times at lower temperatures. Using implanted ²⁵²Cf semi‐tracks, a series of experiments were performed on internal prismatic faces of monazite‐(Ce) crystals from the Palaeozoic Harcourt Granodiorite (Victoria, Australia) using an alternative 6 M HCl etchant, also at 90°C. Step‐etch results show optimal etching at 60–90 min. Further, an isothermal annealing experiment illustrated that the degree of annealing that can be expected during etching at 90°C under laboratory time scales is negligible. The etching rate between grains is not uniform, with a correlation demonstrated between over‐etched grains and high U and Th concentrations.     

On search for tracks of heavy and superheavy cosmic-ray nuclei in crystals from pallasites

The results of a search for far transuranic elements in the primary cosmic radiation are presented. It is shown that olivines from pallasites are very suitable for such investigations. The sensitivity of olivines to charged particles and the fading effect of latent tracks under space conditions have been studied. In the Lipovsky and Marjalahti pallasites, the distributions of tracks of nuclei with Z > 36 have been measured, and the abundance of nuclei with Z ? 70 in these crystals has been tentatively set at (2–5) × 10^?6 with respect to the Fe group nuclei.     

Preferential chemical etching of terrestrial And lunar olivines

A new chemical etching technique has been developed to study defect structures in terrestrial and lunar olivine crystals. Dislocations, low-angle dislocation boundaries, dislocation arrays and pile-ups have been observed on the (010, (100), and (001) faces of both polished and cleaved naturally deformed single crystal olivine, on various orientations of crystals in dunite, and in an experimentally deformed olivine crystal. Etching of Apollo 12 igneous rocks revealed dislocations and radiation damage tracks in lunar olivine. Dislocation etching of the (001) face of olivine is reported for the first time in this paper.     

锆石的裂变径迹年龄测定技术

六十年代初发展起来的核裂变径迹测定年龄技术,已在地质年代学、宇宙年代学和考古工作等领域得到了广泛应用。裂变径迹测定年龄技术,是应用各种天然矿物或材料中微量杂质铀的自发裂变碎片,在绝缘固体介质中产生的辐射损伤痕迹(即裂变径迹)测定年龄的方法。该法的优点之一是应用范围广,在火成岩、沉积岩和变质岩中常可找到合适的测定对象。     

Radiation induced lattice defects in natural zircon (ZrSiO4) observed at atomic resolution

Fission tracks and point defects in natural zircon are directly observed by a 1 MV electron microscope at atomic resolution for three types of samples adjusted to the 100 orientation. Lattice planes intersecting the fission tracks at high angles are distorted in a rather irregular manner over a wide region up to more than 100 Å wide. Diameter of the tracks, ranging from 25 Å to 40Å, is much narrower than those so far reported for the U-doped synthetic zircon (100–200 Å), UO₂ thin film (100 Å), mica (66 Å, 240 Å) or fluorophlogopite (150 Å). The fact that fairly long tracks thousands of angstroms in length are observed in thin 100-oriented sample hundreds of angstroms in thickness and that some of them are nearly parallel to a low index lattice plane suggest a possible occurrence of channelling in the process of track formation. Parallel tracks often observed in chemically etched specimens support the idea of channelling. Slightly bent tracks are sometimes observed. It is concluded from computer simulation that many contrast anomalies of bright and dark spots in the lattice image are due to point defects of vacancies and interstitial atoms, mainly produced by the direct atomic collision with α-particles or by passage of ionizing nuclear particles. Optimum conditions of the observation of point defects with highest contrast are studied. One interstitial Zr atom or one Zr ion vacancy will give very low contrast and will be not detectable unless the crystal is less than two unit cells thick. A pair of Zr ion vacancies, however, yields extended detectable limit of thickness. Some of the observed defects are in good accordance with those simulated.     

Impact of the 11 March 2011, Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami on the chemical industry

The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami damaged or destroyed many industrial facilities housing or processing hazardous substances, such as refineries, petrochemical facilities and other types of chemical industry. This showed that also generally well prepared countries are at risk of suffering natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) accidents. An analysis of data collected from open sources and through interviews with authorities was performed to understand the main reasons for the industrial damage and downtime as well as the extent of hazardous-materials releases and the associated impact on society. The analysis of the data set confirmed the findings from other studies with respect to main damage and failure modes, as well as hazardous-materials release paths. In addition, gaps in Natech risk management were identified. Based on the data analysis and interviews lessons learned in support of a more far-reaching Natech risk management are presented.     

First report of the small bird track Koreanaornis from the Cretaceous of North America: implications for avian ichnotaxonomy and paleoecology

Although body fossils of shorebirds and shorebird-like species are extremely rare from the Cretaceous, rapid increase in the discovery of bird footprint sites provides valuable alternate evidence to help fill gaps in the story of the early evolution of shorebird-like species. Newly discovered bird tracks from the Albian-Cenomanian Dakota Formation in northeastern Utah represent the first report of the ichnogenus Koreanaornis from North America and only the second report of bird tracks from this formation. These tracks are not attributable to Aquatilavipes as previously claimed. Three well-preserved trackways are described and provisionally referred to Koreanaornis cf. hamanensis (Kim). However, a review of the ichnotaxonomy of shorebird ichnites reveals that this ichnotaxon also closely resembles the Miocene ichnospecies Avipeda sirin (Vyalov). This latter comparison points to the need for a thorough evaluation of the similarity between Mesozoic and Cenozoic avian ichnotaxa, which may be over-split in some cases and under-differentiated in others.The new material helps distinguish ichnogenus Koreanaornis from the larger bird track Aquatilavipes, which is more abundant and widespread in North America. In some cases Aquatilavipes has been incorrectly used as a catch-all ichnogenus both in North America and Asia. The Dakota Formation stratigraphy at the tracksite indicates that the track makers lived in a marginal marine paleoenvironment. However, despite the widespread distribution of such facies, often replete with dinosaur tracks, the bird track record of the Dakota Formation, and the Cretaceous of the western USA remains relatively sparse in comparison with other areas such as east Asia.     

Dehydration and diffusion of radiogenic argon in micas

There is a close analogy between dehydration and loss of argon curves obtained by laboratory heating of muscovite (figs. 2 and 3). Potassium atoms lie in potential cleavage planes of the muscovite. When K⁴⁰ atoms disintegrate the resulting argon atoms are driven into the mica structure by recoil, except those whose paths make a small angle with the cleavage plane. These remain in the "unstable zone" and may escape from the muscovite. This introduces an element of uncertainty in K/A absolute age figures from mica. -- F. E. Ingerson.     

化学元素的形成和地球年龄——为侯德封先生百年诞辰而作

本文从宇宙的起源出发、用核化学的观点分析了太阳上发生的核反应,进而讨论了不同质量区内化学元素的形成过程。中等质量的核素成因有三：核反应、核衰变和核裂变,对放射性核素的研究表明：宇宙中存在的放射性核素起源于星子的内核。地核的组成是“粒子溶液”,它是处在超高温度和压力环境中、无个性基本粒子密集体。现有的年龄测定方法,大多数都是以放射性衰变规律为基础、用两个特定时间所存在的原子数目来计算年龄,因此,要求选用作为时计的核素具有足够长的寿命,同时还要有明确的起始时刻和原子的数目。     

Impact of global warming on cyclonic disturbances over south Asian region

A state-of-the-art regional climate modelling system, known as PRECIS (Providing REgional Climates for Impacts Studies) developed by the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research, UK is applied over the Indian domain to investigate the impact of global warming on the cyclonic disturbances such as depressions and storms. The PRECIS simulations at 50 × 50 km horizontal resolution are made for two time slices, present (1961–1990) and the future (2071–2100), for two socioeconomic scenarios A2 and B2. The model simulations under the scenarios of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and sulphate aerosols are analysed to study the likely changes in the frequency, intensity and the tracks of cyclonic disturbances forming over north Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) and the Indian landmass during monsoon season. The model overestimates the frequency of cyclonic disturbances over the Indian subcontinent in baseline simulations (1961–1990). The change is evaluated towards the end of present century (2071–2100) with respect to the baseline climate. The present study indicates that the storm tracks simulated by the model are southwards as compared to the observed tracks during the monsoon season, especially for the two main monsoon months, viz., July and August. The analysis suggests that the frequency of cyclonic disturbances forming over north Indian Ocean is likely to reduce by 9% towards the end of the present century in response to the global warming. However, the intensity of cyclonic disturbances is likely to increase by about 11% compared to the present.     

A theropod track assemblage including large deinonychosaur tracks from the Lower Cretaceous of Asia

A total of more than 40 tridactyl and didactyl tracks were preserved as natural casts on four fallen blocks of sandstone representing the Lower Cretaceous Jiaguan Formation of Gulin County in southeastern Sichuan Province, China. While several trackways can be distinctly followed, others are isolated imprints only. All have been flattened by overburden pressures. Tridactyl tracks are present with three size-classes being <10 cm, 10–20 cm and >20 cm in length. Morphologically they are similar to the ichnogenus Eubrontes, considering the relatively weak mesaxony. Eight of the tracks on one of the blocks are clearly didactyl and are here interpreted as representing large and medium sized dromaeosaurids. The largest track is about ∼30 cm long and comparable in size to the type of Dromaeopodus (∼28 cm), from the Lower Cretaceous of Shandong Province, which was the largest dromaeosaurid track previously reported. This report adds new data to the growing number of dromaeosaurid tracksites reports from China, and from the Jiaguan Formation, suggesting that this theropod group had a preference for fluvial paleoenvironments.     

Annealing behavior of alpha recoil tracks in phlogopite

In this study we present and interpret a new experimental data set documenting thermal annealing of alpha recoil tracks (ARTs) in phlogopite. Through improvements in experimental technique, difficulties in obtaining useable data from material with an uneven distribution of U and Th were overcome. The resulting annealing pattern was well organized on an Arrhenius plot, allowing construction of a simple, 3-parameter annealing model of parallel contours of constant annealing with a linear progression. Our data and model indicate that phlogopite ARTs anneal at very low temperatures on geological time scales. At the million-year time scale, full annealing requires a temperature of only 33 °C, and we infer closure temperatures from 26–37 °C for cooling rates of 10–100 °C/m.y. Phlogopite ART analysis is thus likely to be primarily useful in relatively young (<1 Ma) terrains featuring either recent volcanism or recent, fast exhumation. In such situations, however, it may provide unique information on the timing of the final stages of unroofing. Comparison of our results with previous studies on ART and fission-track annealing in phlogopite and biotite indicates that these two types of radiation damage anneal at disparate time and temperature conditions in biotite-series micas.     

Geoanalytic applications of particle tracks

Since the discovery that ionizing tracks left by highly energetic nuclei can be made visible through optical microscopes by proper etching, the field of particle track studies has blossomed at a rate equalled only by the growth of the porno-film industry. The analytic applications alone are probably unique in the wide range of results and fields of study that have evolved from a single technique.PTA has been used to study the abundance and distribution of the lightest elements, Li and B, and the heaviest elements, U and Th, in every conceivable type of matrix, from blood to ultramafic rocks, in every conceivable locale, from the bottom of the seas to the surface of the moon. It has been used to study the distribution in the cosmic radiation of all the naturally-occurring chemical elements, to search in our laboratories and in extra-terrestrial samples for superheavy elements that no one has yet succeeded in making, and to search in all samples accessible to us for those exotic creations of the intellect, magnetic monopoles.And, since the rate of publication of PTA papers is still — in 1974 — accelerating, the second dozen years should be even more bewildering than the first.     

Hornblende etching and quartz/feldspar ratios as weathering and soil development indicators in some Michigan soils

Weathering can be used as a highly effective relative age indicator. One such application involves etching of hornblende grains in soils. Etching increases with time (duration) and decreases with depth in soils and surficial sediments. Other variables, related to intensity of weathering and soil formation, are generally held as constant as possible so as to only minimally influence the time-etching relationship. Our study focuses on one of the variables usually held constant—climate—by examining hornblende etching and quartz/feldspar ratios in soils of similar age but varying degrees of development due to climatic factors. We examined the assumption that the degree of etching varies as a function of soil development, even in soils of similar age. The Spodosols we studied form a climate-mediated development sequence on a 13,000-yr-old outwash plain in Michigan. Their pedogenic development was compared to weathering-related data from the same soils. In general, soils data paralleled weathering data. Hornblende etching was most pronounced in the A and E horizons, and decreased rapidly with depth. Quartz/feldspar ratios showed similar but more variable trends. In the two most weakly developed soils, the Q/F ratio was nearly constant with depth, implying that this ratio may not be as effective a measure as are etching data for minimally weathered soils. Our data indicate that hornblende etching should not be used as a stand-alone relative age indicator, especially in young soils and in contexts where the degree of pedogenic variability on the geomorphic surface is large.