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Concept information

physical process > nuclear reaction > nuclear spallation

Preferred term

nuclear spallation  

Definition

  • Nuclear spallation occurs naturally in Earth's atmosphere owing to the impacts of cosmic rays, and also on the surfaces of bodies in space such as meteorites and the Moon. Evidence of cosmic ray spallation (also known as "spoliation") is seen on outer surfaces of bodies, and gives a means of measuring the length of time of exposure. The composition of the cosmic rays themselves also indicates that they have suffered spallation before reaching Earth, because the proportion of light elements such as lithium, boron, and beryllium in them exceeds average cosmic abundances; these elements in the cosmic rays were evidently formed from spallation of oxygen, nitrogen, carbon and perhaps silicon in the cosmic ray sources or during their lengthy travel here. Cosmogenic isotopes of aluminium, beryllium, chlorine, iodine and neon, formed by spallation of terrestrial elements under cosmic ray bombardment, have been detected on Earth. (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spallation#Nuclear_spallation)

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URI

http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/MDL-XRQFD5CK-H

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