Trinitite
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Trinitite, also known as Atomite or Alamogordo Glass, is the name given to the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of arkosic sand composed of quartz grains and feldspar (both microcline and smaller amount of plagioclase with small amount of calcite, hornblende and augite in a matrix of sandy clay)[2] that was melted by the atomic blast. It is usually a light green color, although in some cases it is other colors. It is mildly radioactive, but is safe to handle for limited periods of time.[3][4]
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, samples were gathered and sold to mineral collectors as a novelty. Traces of the material can be found at the Trinity Site today, though most of it was bulldozed and buried by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1952. It is now illegal to take the remaining material from the site. However, material that was taken prior to this prohibition is still in the hands of collectors.
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[edit] Formation
In 2005 it was theorized by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Robert Hermes and independent investigator William Strickfaden that much of the mineral was formed not simply by sand which was exposed to the fireball, but the sand which was drawn up inside the fireball itself and then rained down in a liquid form.[5]
A number of different types of Trinitite have been identified. Green is the most common form. Black contains iron from the tower structure. Red contains copper from the 'gadget' itself or from the communications cables that led away from the site. Both black and red specimens are extremely rare. Rounded pearls are also found which come from melted silica that returned to solid form before hitting the ground.[6]
The glass has been described as "a layer 1 to 2 centimeters thick, with the upper surface marked by a very thin sprinkling of dust which fell upon it while it was still molten. At the bottom is a thicker film of partially fused material, which grades into the soil from which it was derived. The color of the glass is a pale bottle green, and the material is extremely vesicular with the size of the bubbles ranging to nearly the full thickness of the specimen." [2]
The name Trinitite is occasionally broadly applied to all glassy residues of nuclear bomb testing, not just the Trinity test. There are many known fakes in circulation among collectors. These fakes use a variety of means to achieve the glassy green silica look as well as mild radioactivity. However, only trinitite from a nuclear explosion will contain certain neutron activation products which are not found in naturally radioactive ores and minerals. In addition, more detailed gamma spectroscopy can narrow down the potential nuclear explosions from which the material formed.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ P.P. Parekh, T.M. Semkow, M.A. Torres, D.K. Haines, J.M. Cooper, P.M. Rosenberg and M.E. Kitto (2006). "Radioactivity in Trinitite six decades later". Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 85 (1): 103-120. doi:.
- ^ a b Optical properties of glass from Alamogordo, New Mexico
- ^ Kolb, W.M., and Carlock, P.G. Trinitite, 1999, The Atomic Age Mineral. This does not link to the book. http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/hiroshimatrinity/trinitite.htm
- ^ Nuclear weapons question, Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum. May not be entirely accurate. http://www.bautforum.com/general-science/9499-nuclear-weapons-question.html
- ^ Robert Hermes and William Strickfaden, 2005, New Theory on the Formation of Trinitite, Nuclear Weapons Journal http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/NewTrinititeTheory.htm
- ^ Steven L. Kay - Nuclearon - Trinitite varieties
[edit] External links
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