Sourcing of Copper and Lead within Red Inclusions from Trinitite Postdetonation Material
2015
Koeman, Elizabeth C. | Simonetti, Antonio | Burns, Peter C.
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. Chemical and isotopic (e.g., Pu) information on the device is declassified and, therefore, methodologies for fingerprinting fuel and other device components can be verified. One type of Trinitite contains red inclusions that are characterized by high concentrations of Pb (between 438 and 26,631 μg/g) and Cu (between 404 and 22,280 μg/g) that are in general positively correlated. Pb isotope compositions for the red inclusion areas exhibit a large variation and indicate mixing between Pb from at least 3 different sources: 1- natural geological background (arkosic sand) present at ground zero; 2- anthropogenic component from the device; and 3- industrial Cu used for wiring in the device. Based on the Pb isotope ratios for the red inclusions within Trinitite, it is likely that the anthropogenic Pb derives from Buchans Mine (Newfoundland, Canada), which is in agreement with a previous investigation. Products of industrial Cu manufacturing (e.g., pennies) were analyzed for their trace element abundances and Pb isotope compositions; these suggest that Cu employed within the device’s wiring was derived from two Cu ore deposits within the USA.
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