Anomalous ¹³¹Xe in Barites

Author

Bin Li
Jauh-Tzuoh Lee
Oliver Manuel, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

Five barites from North America were analyzed for the abundance and isotopic composition of Kr and Xe in an attempt to find ¹³¹Xe anomalies from the capture of epithermal neutrons on ¹³⁰Ba. Excess ¹³¹Xe was found in two of the samples, 118B from Pea Ridge Mine of Sullivan, Missouri, and 119B from Franklin, New Jersey. The highest enrichment of ¹³¹Xe (108%) was observed in the gas released from sample 118B. The enrichment of ¹³¹Xe for sample 119B is 27%. We show that the neutron source for the reaction ¹³⁰Ba(n, γ) → ¹³¹Xe is the decay of actinide elements in the host rocks. However, no prominent anomalies were observed from the presence of fissiogenic xenon.

Recommended Citation

B. Li et al., "Anomalous ¹³¹Xe in Barites," Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 123, pp. 71 - 79, Elsevier, May 1994.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/0012-821X(94)90258-5

Department(s)

Chemistry

Keywords and Phrases

Actinide Element Decay; Barite; Isotopic Composition; Krypton; Neutron Source; Xenon-131; North America

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0012-821X

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 1994 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 May 1994