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Title:
Abundance of live 244Pu in deep-sea reservoirs on Earth points to rarity of actinide nucleosynthesis
Authors:
Wallner, A.; Faestermann, T.; Feige, J.; Feldstein, C.; Knie, K.; Korschinek, G.; Kutschera, W.; Ofan, A.; Paul, M.; Quinto, F.; Rugel, G.; Steier, P.
Affiliation:
AA(Department of Nuclear Physics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia; VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria), AB(Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85747 Garching, Germany), AC(VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria), AD(Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel), AE(Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85747 Garching, Germany; GSI Helmholtz-Zentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstrasse 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany), AF(Physik Department, Technische Universität München, D-85747 Garching, Germany), AG(VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria), AH(Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel), AI(Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel), AJ(), AK(), AL(VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria)
Publication:
Nature Communications, Volume 6, id. 5956 (2015).
Publication Date:
01/2015
Origin:
NATURE
Abstract Copyright:
(c) 2015: Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.
DOI:
10.1038/ncomms6956
Bibliographic Code:
2015NatCo...6E5956W

Abstract

Half of the heavy elements including all actinides are produced in r-process nucleosynthesis, whose sites and history remain a mystery. If continuously produced, the Interstellar Medium is expected to build-up a quasi-steady state of abundances of short-lived nuclides (with half-lives ≤100 My), including actinides produced in r-process nucleosynthesis. Their existence in today’s interstellar medium would serve as a radioactive clock and would establish that their production was recent. In particular 244Pu, a radioactive actinide nuclide (half-life=81 My), can place strong constraints on recent r-process frequency and production yield. Here we report the detection of live interstellar 244Pu, archived in Earth’s deep-sea floor during the last 25 My, at abundances lower than expected from continuous production in the Galaxy by about 2 orders of magnitude. This large discrepancy may signal a rarity of actinide r-process nucleosynthesis sites, compatible with neutron-star mergers or with a small subset of actinide-producing supernovae.
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