Analysis of 234U/238U ratio by ICP-MS

4 Jul 2025, 12:00
20m
РХО ПИБ (Санкт-Петербургский Государственный Университет)

РХО ПИБ

Санкт-Петербургский Государственный Университет

Oral Section 8. Nuclear physics methods in application to the study of cultural heritage. 8. Nuclear physics methods in application to the study of cultural heritage

Speaker

Igor Izosimov (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research)

Description

$ICP-MS$ method has been used for analyses [1] of the elemental and isotope composition (64 elements) of bones of dinosaurs, South mammoths, prehistoric bear and archanthropus as well as the samples of surrounding soils; everything collected in different parts of Uzbekistan. A high concentration of uranium we detected in the bones of dinosaurs (122mg/kg), South mammoth (220mg/kg), prehistoric bear (24mg/kg) and archanthropus (1.5mg/kg) compared to surrounding soils (3.7-7.8 mg/kg) and standard bones (<0.01mg/kg) was established. The standart ratio $^{235}U/^{238}U = 0.007$ was detected for all samples. It was also observed that the $^{234}U/^{238}U$ ratio (Table) differ from $^{234}U/^{238}U = 5.4\times 10^{-5}$ secular equilibrium value. In this report the various mechanisms responsible for this difference are discussed.

Table. Data on uranium isotope ratios, detected by $ICP-MS$ with $1-SD$ errors in prehistoric bones, standard bone, and soils collected around these bones.

Sample $\hspace{0.5cm}$ $^{234}U/^{238}U\times 10^{-5}$ $\hspace{1cm}$ $^{235}U/^{238}U\times 10^{-3}$

MB1 $\hspace{1.4cm}$ 16.0±0.6 $\hspace{3cm}$ 7.4±0.2
SMB1 $\hspace{1.4cm}$ 11±1 $\hspace{3.4cm}$ 7.5±0.2
MB2 $\hspace{1.5cm}$ 9.5±0.2 $\hspace{3.1cm}$ 7.5±0.2
SMB2 $\hspace{1.3cm}$ 8.4±0.4 $\hspace{3.1cm}$ 7.6±0.2
BA $\hspace{1.8cm}$ 8.1±0.2 $\hspace{3cm}$ 7.2±0.2
BB $\hspace{1.8cm}$ 7.7±0.3 $\hspace{3cm}$ 7.4±0.2
DB $\hspace{1.8cm}$ 7.1±0.4 $\hspace{3cm}$ 7.2±0.2
SDB $\hspace{1.6cm}$ 7.2±0.3 $\hspace{3.1cm}$ 7.5±0.2
STB $\hspace{1.6cm}$ 7.2±0.5 $\hspace{3.1cm}$ 7.5±0.2
SSTB $\hspace{1.4cm}$ 10.6±0.3 $\hspace{3cm}$ 7.4±0.2

MB1& & SMB1 – South mammoth bone found in Angren and soil collected near this bone respectively; MB2& SMB2 - South mammoth bone found in Kashkadari and soil collected near this bone respectively; BA-arhantrope bone; BB – bone of bear from Selungur cave; DB& SDB – Dinosaur bone and soil collected near this bone respectively; STB & SSTB – standard bone and soil collected near the standard bone. The natural abundance ratio of the isotopes $^{235}U/^{238}U$ is $0.007257$, secular equilibrium ratio $^{234}U/^{238}U$ is $5.4\times 10^{-5}$ .

[1] I.N. Izosimov, et al., Czech Chemical Society Symposium Series, 20, 116(2022).

Primary author

Igor Izosimov (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research)

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