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Published April 1980 | Published
Journal Article Open

A search for isotopic anomalies in uranium

Abstract

The ^(238)U/^(235)U ratios for nine bulk chondritic meteorites and a terrestrial basalt were measured. The total range in ^(238)U/^(235)U determined for both total meteorites and for acid leaches was from 137.2 to 138.3 and to within the error limits indistinguishable from normal terrestrial U. The typical errors in a single determination are ±6‰ (2σ_M) for a 2 ng U sample from a chondrite. Taking the extreme values of δ^(235)U for each measurement the maximum amount of excess ^(235)U that can be allowed to be present ranges from 2 × 10^8 to 2 × 10^9 atoms per gram of bulk meteorite. These results do not support the claims of variations in ^(238)U/^(235)U at the percentage levels or number of excess ^(235)U atoms in some of the same meteorites as reported by several other previous workers.

Additional Information

© 1980 by the American Geophysical Union. Received January 4, 1980; accepted January 28, 1980. We have benefited from extensive discussion both Philosophical and scientific with D. A. Papanastassiou. We are grateful to G. R. Tilton for generously giving us meteorite samples and aliquots of meteoritic U solutions. This work was supported by NSF grant PHY76-83685 and NASA grant NGL 05-002-188. Contribution 3351 (334) of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

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August 19, 2023
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