Turner, Grenville and Harrison, T. Mark and Holland, Greg and Mojzsis, Stephen J. and Gilmour, Jamie (2004) Extinct 244Pu from ancient zircons. Science, 306 (5693). pp. 89-91. ISSN 0036-8075
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
We have found evidence, in the form of fissiogenic xenon isotopes, for in situ decay of 244Pu in individual 4.1- to 4.2-billion-year-old zircons from the Jack Hills region of Western Australia. Because of its short half-life, 82 million years, 244Pu was extinct within 600 million years of Earth's formation. Detrital zircons are the only known relics to have survived from this period, and a study of their Pu geochemistry will allow us to date ancient metamorphic events and determine the terrestrial Pu/U ratio for comparison with the solar ratio.