Abstract

Radionuclides are continually produced by interactions of cosmic rays with the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Most of the studies of these radionuclides are concerned with those produced in the atmosphere or in meteorites. These radionuclides result mainly from spallation reactions with atmosphere constituents or with iron in the case of meteorites; however, 14C is produced by the thermal neutron capture of nitrogen. The production rates of these radionuclides in the atmosphere are strongly dependent on both altitude and geomagnetic latitude. The uses of the radionuclides 14C and tritium in radioactive dating, atmospheric and ocean transport, and other studies are well known. While the radionuclides 14C, 7Be, 10Be and tritium are produced from the light element constituents of the atmosphere, numerous radionuclides are produced by spallation reactions on atmospheric argon. To date the radionuclides 22Na, 24Na, 32Si, 32P, 33P, 35S, 38S, 36Cl, 38Cl and 39Cl have been reported. The meteoritic dust which is continually showered into the atmosphere contains spallation products of iron and other cosmic ray induced radionuclides. The concentrations of most of the radionuclides are extremely low and in some cases their artificial production by weapons testing has greatly exceeded their natural production. The biosphere is continually exposed to the wide spectrum of cosmic-ray produced radionuclides and some of these which are concentrated by biological processes can serve as tracers in studies of the biological processes in nature.

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