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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Anthropogenic Osmium In Rain And Snow Reveals Global-Scale Atmospheric Contamination, Cynthia Chen, Peter N. Sedwick, Mukul Sharma Jan 2009

Anthropogenic Osmium In Rain And Snow Reveals Global-Scale Atmospheric Contamination, Cynthia Chen, Peter N. Sedwick, Mukul Sharma

OES Faculty Publications

Osmium is one of the rarer elements in seawater, with typical concentration of ≈10 x 10-15 g g-1 ( 5.3 x 10-14 mol kg-1. The osmium isotope composition (187Os/188Os ratio) of deep oceans is 1.05, reflecting a balance between inputs from continental crust (≈ 1.3) and mantle/cosmic dust (≈ 0.13). Here, we show that the 187Os/188Os ratios measured in rain and snow collected around the world range from 0.16 to 0.48, much lower than expected (>1), but similar to the isotope composition of ores (approximate to 0.2) …


Optimization Of The Microprecipitation Procedure For Nuclear Forensics Applications, Lyndsey Renee Kelly Jan 2009

Optimization Of The Microprecipitation Procedure For Nuclear Forensics Applications, Lyndsey Renee Kelly

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Microprecipitation has become one of the most widely used sample preparation techniques for alpha spectroscopy. Many factors during the precipitation process can affect the yield and energy resolution by adding unwanted mass to the sample. Current applications in nuclear forensics call for an optimization of energy resolution and yield in order to improve identification and quantify specific radionuclides. The purpose of this research is to determine the optimal parameters used for microprecipitation. The optimal solution temperature, precipitation time, carrier amount, and hydrofluoric acid amount are used to investigate the influence of varying the type of carrier, as well as, the …