Uranium determination by133Xe in meteorites; comparative study with fission track and/or239Np methods and thermal release character of133Xe

Abstract

Uranium concentrations in three types of inclusions of the Allende (C III), a bulk sample of the Plainview (H5), and a bulk and 5 to 15 density separates of the Huckitta pallasite were determined and discussed by comparing the results from homogenized fission track and/or239Np analyses with the133Xe results. Stepwise heating experiment revealed that the133Xe release from the Plainview is bimordal and incomplete by a simple heating at 1600 °C, and that the133Xe releases in the Huckitta bulk and metallic samples are multitudinous but can be extracted rather completely at 1600–1700 °C. In the Huckitta, uranium-rich phase (∼100 ppb) was in the lightest density fraction of d=2.9–3.3, but the bulk uranium was found to be mostly from the heavy metal-rich fraction of d>4.2.