Category Ranking
98%
Total Visits
921
Avg Visit Duration
2 minutes
Citations
20
Article Abstract
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, SiCuCaFe 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.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8179242 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2101350118 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Characterizing major and trace element concentrations, and radioactivity in bulk glass samples from the trinity atomic test.
J Environ Radioact
February 2025
1 Kiowa Lane, White Rock, NM, 87547, USA.
Glass fragments (16 green glasses and 2 red glasses) were handpicked from crushed Trinitite. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that these samples were essentially pure glass with the exception of minor amounts (less than 4 wt%) of quartz (which acts as a diluent) in some samples. The concentrations of 45 elements in the Trinity glasses were determined using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccidental synthesis of a previously unknown quasicrystal in the first atomic bomb test.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
June 2021
Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544
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, SiCuCaFe 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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDirect Pb Isotopic Analysis of a Nuclear Fallout Debris Particle from the Trinity Nuclear Test.
Anal Chem
February 2017
Department of Geosciences, Swedish Museum of Natural History , SE-104 05 Stockholm, Sweden.
The Pb isotope composition of a nuclear fallout debris particle has been directly measured in post-detonation materials produced during the Trinity nuclear test by a secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) scanning ion image technique (SII). This technique permits the visual assessment of the spatial distribution of Pb and can be used to obtain full Pb isotope compositions in user-defined regions in a 70 μm × 70 μm analytical window. In conjunction with backscattered electron (BSE) and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) mapping of the same particle, the Pb measured in this fallout particle cannot be from a major phase in the precursor arkosic sand.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSourcing of Copper and Lead within Red Inclusions from Trinitite Postdetonation Material.
Anal Chem
May 2015
†Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences and ‡Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, United States.
Historical postdetonation materials resulting from nuclear testing can be used to develop methodologies for source attribution, in particular if the chemical and isotopic signatures of the device are public domain. The samples analyzed in this study are from the world's first nuclear bomb explosion in 1945, the Trinity Test, and produced the postdetonation material "Trinitite". The latter is a glassy material that resulted from the melting of the natural sand present at ground zero (Alamogordo, NM) and incorporated components of the device.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF