[meteorite-list] What to look for if large impacts liberate neutrons - part 2 of 2

From: Darren Garrison <cynapse_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:51:28 -0500
Message-ID: <fb5en31u67phunslmm2h8jre8emo1skspg_at_4ax.com>

On Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:34:10 -0800, you wrote:

>But there is one element I found that is even better than iron;
>it's rare, but its neutron cross section is 48,800 barns (!) which
>more than makes up for its rarity relative to iron. It's gadolinium
>(Gd). It's about 9000 times rarer than iron, but its huge neutron
>affinity more than makes up for it. For a given kilo of earth,
>gadolinium ends up being a little more than twice as good as iron
>as a neutron getter.

...

>
>I still have a big problem coming up with the mechanism by which
>E.P.'s large impact is supposed to generate these neutrons. Since
>the temperature is too low to achieve a nuclear reaction thermally,
>and the impact velocity is far too low to do it kinetically, the
>only thing left I can think of is some sort of fusor-like plasma
>reaction -- alas, without the benefit of deuterium. --Rob

To sum it up, you don't know how the neutrons would hit the broad side of a gd
barn?
Received on Sat 29 Dec 2007 10:51:28 PM PST