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Science 29 August 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5330, pp. 1281 - 1284
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5330.1281
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Reports

s-Process Zirconium in Presolar Silicon Carbide Grains

Günther K. Nicolussi, Andrew M. Davis, Michael J. Pellin, Roy S. Lewis, Robert N. Clayton, Sachiko Amari *

The isotopic composition of zirconium in silicon carbide grains from the Murchison meteorite was measured by resonant ionization mass spectrometry of laser-ablated neutral atoms. These grains are condensates from the atmospheres of red giant stars that existed before the formation of our sun and solar system, and they contain records of nucleosynthesis in these stars. The r-process-dominated isotope zirconium-96 was depleted by more than a factor of 2 compared with the s-process-dominated isotopes zirconium-90, zirconium-91, zirconium-92, and zirconium-94, in agreement with expectations for neutron capture nucleosynthesis in asymptotic giant branch stars.

G. K. Nicolussi, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA, and Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
A. M. Davis, R. S. Lewis, S. Amari, Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
M. J. Pellin, Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439, USA.
R. N. Clayton, Enrico Fermi Institute, Department of Chemistry, and Department of the Geophysical Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
*   Present address: McDonnell Center for Space Sciences, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.

Volume 277, Number 5330, Issue of 29 August 1997, pp. 1281-1284
©1997 by The American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Extinct Technetium in Silicon Carbide Stardust Grains: Implications for Stellar Nucleosynthesis.
M. R. Savina, A. M. Davis, C. E. Tripa, M. J. Pellin, R. Gallino, R. S. Lewis, and S. Amari (2004)
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An Overview of Isotopic Anomalies in Extraterrestrial Materials and Their Nucleosynthetic Heritage.
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