scholarly journals Accidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (22) ◽  
pp. e2101350118
Author(s):  
Luca Bindi ◽  
William Kolb ◽  
G. Nelson Eby ◽  
Paul D. Asimow ◽  
Terry C. Wallace ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transmission Lines ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
Icosahedral Quasicrystal ◽  
Glassy Material ◽  
Nuclear Bomb ◽  
Experimental Shock ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
Distinctive Property ◽  
Unknown Composition ◽  
The Trinity

The first test explosion of a nuclear bomb, the Trinity test of 16 July 1945, resulted in the fusion of surrounding sand, the test tower, and copper transmission lines into a glassy material known as “trinitite.” Here, we report the discovery, in a sample of red trinitite, of a hitherto unknown composition of icosahedral quasicrystal, Si61Cu30Ca7Fe2. It represents the oldest extant anthropogenic quasicrystal currently known, with the distinctive property that its precise time of creation is indelibly etched in history. Like the naturally formed quasicrystals found in the Khatyrka meteorite and experimental shock syntheses of quasicrystals, the anthropogenic quasicrystals in red trinitite demonstrate that transient extreme pressure–temperature conditions are suitable for the synthesis of quasicrystals and for the discovery of new quasicrystal-forming systems.

scholarly journals Accelerator-Measured 14C Activity in Tree Rings From the Vicinity of the First Atomic Bomb Test

Radiocarbon ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 31 (03) ◽  
pp. 762-765 ◽  
Author(s):  
S W Leavitt ◽  
Austin Long
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Neutron Flux ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Pinus Edulis ◽  
Site Analysis ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
White Sands ◽  
The Trinity

Detonation of the first fission bomb at White Sands, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, produced a tremendous neutron flux capable of creating tritium and radiocarbon byproducts. We sampled a 115-year-old pinyon (Pinus edulis) 10km east of the Trinity test site to determine 14C evidence of this event. The most likely mechanism for this enrichment in the 1945 tree ring would be fixation of 14CO2 produced at the blast site and carried with the fallout cloud over the pinyon site. Analysis of cellulose of the 1944 and 1945 rings shows δ13C values of −19.9 and −19.5, respectively, and 14C activity (fraction of modern uncorrected for δ13C) as 0.991 ± .005 and 0.991 ± .006, respectively. It is likely that the duration and/or concentration of the 14CO2 exposure was not sufficient to increase 14C activity expected for that year.

scholarly journals Accounting for Unfissioned Plutonium from the Trinity Atomic Bomb Test

2020 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 504-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold L. Beck ◽  
Steven L. Simon ◽  
André Bouville ◽  
Anna Romanyukha
Keyword(s):  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
The Trinity

scholarly journals Covid-19: Pandemonium in our time

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Bergquist ◽  
Laura Rinaldi
Keyword(s):  
Shock Wave ◽  
Paradise Lost ◽  
Actual Data ◽  
Ground Zero ◽  
Nuclear Bomb ◽  
True Value ◽  
Epic Poem ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
The World ◽  
The Trinity

While pandemonium has come to mean wild and noisy disorder, the reference here is to John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost and the upheaval following Lucifer's banishment from Heaven and his construction of Pandæmonium as his hub. Today's avalanche of conflicting news on how to deal with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) brings to mind the Trinity nuclear bomb test with Enrico Fermi estimating its strength by releasing small pieces of paper into the air and measuring their displacement by the shock wave. Fermi's result, in fact not far from the true value, emphasised his ability to make good approximations with few or no actual data. The current wave of Covid-19 presents just this kind of situation as it engulfs the world from ground zero in Wuhan, China. Much information is indeed missing, but datasets that might lead to useful ideas on how to handle this pandemic are steadily accumulating.

scholarly journals Bomb Produced 14C Content in Tree Rings Grown at Different Latitudes

Radiocarbon ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 28 (2A) ◽  
pp. 346-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kai-Mei Dai ◽  
C Y Fan
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Circulation ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Atmospheric Circulation Patterns ◽  
Nuclear Bomb ◽  
Circulation Patterns ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
The 1950S

The 14C content in 1961–1967 rings of each of three spruce pines grown at (68° N, 130° W), (47° 30' N, 129° 16' E) and (27° 13' N, 100° 20' E) were measured. Δ14C values of the three specimens rise dramatically from a common level (∼250‰) in 1961 to their respective maxima, 964‰, 909‰, and 743‰ in 1964 and then fall to a common level ∼680‰ in 1967. The observed Δ14C increase comes most likely from the nuclear bomb test of the USSR at 75° N in 1961, although there were many other tests since the 1950s. The different effects at different latitudes reflect the atmospheric circulation patterns in the stratosphere and the transport of 14C nuclei from the stratosphere to the troposphere.

scholarly journals <sup>36</sup>Cl bomb peak: comparison of modeled and measured data

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 2501-2531
Author(s):  
U. Heikkilä ◽  
J. Beer ◽  
J. Feichter ◽  
V. Alfimov ◽  
H.-A. Synal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
General Circulation ◽  
Model Simulation ◽  
Circulation Model ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Tien Shan ◽  
Nuclear Bomb ◽  
Bomb Test ◽  
36Cl Fluxes ◽  
High Precipitation

Abstract. The extensive nuclear bomb testing of the fifties and sixties and the final tests in the seventies caused a strong 36Cl peak that has been observed in ice cores world-wide. The measured 36Cl deposition fluxes in eight ice cores (Dye3, Fiescherhorn, Grenzgletscher, Guliya, Huascarán, North GRIP, Inylchek (Tien Shan) and Berkner Island) were compared with an ECHAM5-HAM general circulation model simulation (1952–1972). We find a good agreement between the measured and the modeled 36Cl fluxes assuming that the bomb test produced global 36Cl input was ~80 kg. The model simulation indicates that the fallout of the bomb test produced 36Cl is largest in the subtropics and mid-latitudes due to the strong stratosphere-troposphere exchange. In Greenland the 36Cl bomb signal is quite large due to the relatively high precipitation rate. In Antarctica the 36Cl bomb peak is small but is visible even in the driest areas. The model suggests that the large bomb tests in the Northern Hemisphere are visible around the globe but the later (end of sixties and early seventies) smaller tests in the Southern Hemisphere are much less visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The question of how rapidly and to what extent the bomb produced 36Cl is mixed between the hemispheres depends on the season of the bomb test. The model results give an estimate of the amplitude of the bomb peak around the globe.

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