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Science 3 March 1967:
Vol. 155. no. 3766, pp. 1103 - 1106
DOI: 10.1126/science.155.3766.1103
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Articles

Fossil Alpha-Particle Recoil Tracks: A New Method of Age Determination

W. H. Huang 1 and R. M. Walker 2

1 Department of Earth Sciences
2 Laboratory for Space Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

The discovery of a new type of fossil nuclear track in mica is reported. This track is produced by the recoil nucleus accompanying the alpha-particle decay of uranium and thorium impurities. The tracks are very short and can be seen with phase contrast microscopy. Measurement of fossil alpha-recoil track densities, coupled with determinations of the thorium and uranium contents, provides a new dating technique analogous to the previously discovered "fission-track method." The primary advantage of the alpha-recoil method is a several-thousand-fold increase in sensitivity over the fission-track technique. The alpha-recoil method should also prove useful in studying the problem of extinct isotopes in meteorites.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
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S. Katcoff and S. Katcoff (1969)
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Mid-Atlantic Ridge: Age and Spreading Rates.
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Fossil Alpha-Recoil Analysis of Certain Variant Radioactive Halos.
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