Trinitite
Trinitite, also known as atomsite or Alamogordo glass,
It is usually a light green, although red trinitite was also found in one section of the blast site,[4] and rare pieces of black trinitite also formed.[5] It is mildly radioactive but safe to handle.[6][7][8]
Pieces of the material may still be found at the Trinity site as of 2018,[9] although most of it was bulldozed and buried by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1953.[10]
Formation
In 2005 it was theorized by
Contained within the glass are melted bits of the first atomic bomb and the support structures and various radionuclides formed during the detonation. The glass itself is marvelously complex at the tens to hundreds of micrometre scale, and besides glasses of varying composition also contains unmelted quartz grains. Air transport of the melted material led to the formation of spheres and dumbbell shaped glass particles. Similar glasses are formed during all ground level nuclear detonations and contain forensic information that can be used to identify the atomic device.[13]
This was supported by a 2011 study based on nuclear imaging and spectrometric techniques.[14] Green trinitite is theorised by researchers to contain material from the bomb's support structure, while red trinitite contains material originating from copper electrical wiring.[15]
An estimated 4,300 gigajoules (4.3×1019 erg)
The detonation left large quantities of trinitite scattered around the crater,
Composition
The chaotic nature of trinitite's creation has resulted in variations in both structure and precise composition.[17]
The glass has been described as "a layer 1 to 2 centimeters thick, with the upper surface marked by a very thin sprinkling of dust which fell upon it while it was still molten. At the bottom is a thicker film of partially fused material, which grades into the soil from which it was derived. The color of the glass is a pale bottle green, and the material is extremely vesicular with the size of the bubbles ranging to nearly the full thickness of the specimen."[3] The most common form of trinitite is green fragments of 1–3 cm thick, smooth on one side and rough on the other; this is the trinitite that cooled after landing still-molten on the desert floor.[22][20]
Around 30% of trinitite is void space, although precise quantities vary greatly between samples. Trinitite also exhibits various other defects such as cracks.[17] In trinitite that cooled after landing, the smooth upper surface contains large numbers of small vesicles while the lower rough layer has lower vesicle density but larger vesicles.[20] It is primarily alkaline.[22]
One of the more unusual isotopes found in trinitite is a barium
Trinitite no longer contains sufficient radiation to be harmful unless swallowed.
Variations
There are two forms of trinitite glass with differing
In a study published in 2021 a sample of red trinitite was found to contain a previously undiscovered complex quasicrystal, the oldest known manmade quasicrystal, with a symmetry group in the shape of an icosahedron.[23] It is composed of iron, silicon, copper and calcium.[19] The quasicrystal's structure displays fivefold rotational symmetry.[23] The quasicrystal research was led by geologist Luca Bindi of the University of Florence and Paul Steinhardt, after he theorised red trinitite was likely to contain quasicrystals as they often contain elements that rarely combine.[19][24] The structure has a formula of Si61Cu30Ca7Fe2.[23] A single 10μm grain was detected after ten months of work examining six small samples of red trinitite.[19][24][25]
Nuclear forensics
A 2010 study in the
During the 2010s millions of dollars of research was undertaken examining trinitite to better understand what information such glasses held that could be used to understand the nuclear explosion that created them.[28] The 2010 trinitite analysis was theorized by the team behind it to be useful for identifying perpetrators of a future nuclear attack.[27][29]
Researchers involved with the discovery of the quasicrystal speculated their work could improve efforts to investigate
Cultural impact
Trinitite was not initially considered remarkable in the context of the nuclear test and ongoing war, but when the war ended visitors began to notice the glass and collect it as souvenirs.[2]
For a time it was believed that the desert sand had simply melted from the direct radiant thermal energy of the fireball and was not particularly dangerous. Thus, it was marketed as suitable for use in jewelry in 1945[31][32] and 1946.[2]
It is now illegal to take the remaining material from the site, much of which has been removed by the US government and buried elsewhere in New Mexico; however, material that was taken prior to this prohibition is still in the hands of collectors and available legally in mineral shops.[2][28] Counterfeit trinitite is also on the market; trinitite's authenticity requires scientific analysis.[33][5]
There are samples in the
The SETI Institute, which seeks to find and research signs of intelligent life elsewhere in space, stated in 2021 that trinitite was to be included in their library of objects connected to "transformational moments" of potential interest to intelligent extraterrestrials.[39] The sculpture Trinity Cube by Trevor Paglen, exhibited in 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego as part of a themed collection of Paglen's art titled Sights Unseen, is partially made from trinitite.[40] The c.1988 artwork Trinitite, Ground Zero, Trinity Site, New Mexico by photographer Patrick Nagatani is housed at the Denver Art Museum.[41]
Similar materials
Occasionally, the name trinitite is broadly applied to all glassy residues of nuclear bomb testing, not just the Trinity test.[42]
Black vitreous fragments of fused sand that had been solidified by the heat of a nuclear explosion were created by French testing at the
Similar naturally occurring minerals
Trinitite, in common with several similar naturally occurring minerals, is a melt glass.[46]
While trinitite and materials of similar formation processes such as
See also
References
- ^ Giaimo, Cara (June 30, 2017). "The Long, Weird Half-Life of Trinitite". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved July 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g Rhodes, Richard (September 2019). "A Chunk of Trinitite Reminds Us of the Sheer, Devastating Power of the Atomic Bomb". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
- ^ a b Ross, Clarence S. (1948). "Optical properties of glass from Alamogordo, New Mexico". American Mineralogist: Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials. 33 (5–6): 360–362.
- ^ S2CID 130527683.
- ^ a b c Williams, Katie (November 2, 2017). "The beauty created by the 'Destroyer of Worlds'". The University of New Mexico Newsroom. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ Kolb, W. M., and Carlock, P. G. (1999). Trinitite: The Atomic Age Mineral.
- ^ "Trinitite". ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity. Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
- ^ Analyzing Trinitite, Hunter Scott.
- ^ Burge, David (April 4, 2018). "Have a blast: Trinity Site allows public to visit where first atomic bomb was tested". The El Paso Times. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ Carroll L. Tyler, AEC letter to the Governor of New Mexico, July 16, 1953. Nuclear Testing Archive, NV0103562: https://www.osti.gov/opennet/detail?osti-id=16166107
- ^ Casey, Kevin (2006). "New Theory on the Formation of Trinitite". White Sands Missile Range. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2014.
- Wikidata Q124694670.
- .
- PMID 21636184.
- ^ a b Powell, Devin (June 18, 2013). "Riddle of the sands scattered around Trinity atomic test site". The Guardian. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ "INTERIM REPORT OF CDC'S LAHDRA PROJECT – Appendix N. pg 38" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2014.
- ^ PMID 26224989.
- ^ a b c Crane, Leah (February 8, 2017). "Glass from nuclear test site shows the moon was born dry". New Scientist. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Castelvecchi, Davide (May 17, 2021). "First nuclear detonation created 'impossible' quasicrystals". Nature. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
- ^ a b c Patrick H. Donohue, Antonio Simonetti (January 2016). "Vesicle Size Distribution as a Novel Nuclear Forensics Tool". PLoS One. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ PMID 16102878.
- ^ Wikidata Q124711384.
- ^ a b c d "Newly discovered quasicrystal was created by the first nuclear explosion at Trinity Site" (Press release). Los Alamos, New Mexico: Los Alamos National Laboratory. May 17, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Privitera, Salvo (May 24, 2021). "Un 'quasicristallo' impossibile è stato trovato nel luogo del primo test nucleare". Everyeye Tech (in Italian). Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ Schultz, Isaac (May 18, 2021). "Researchers Find 'Forbidden' Quasicrystal in Wake of Nuclear Bomb Test". Gizmodo. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
- ^ Spotts, Pete (November 12, 2010). "Scientists use 'trinitite' from 1945 to help decode nuclear blasts". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
- ^ a b "Nuclear debris could reveal clues of bomb's origin". BBC. November 8, 2010. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ a b Geuss, Martin (January 9, 2014). "Trinitite: The radioactive rock buried in New Mexico before the Atari games". Ars Technica. Retrieved May 5, 2021.
- ^ Johnston, Casey (November 11, 2010). "Nuclear debris carries signatures of bomb that caused it". Ars Technica. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Scoles, Sarah (November 6, 2018). "How a Uranium Hunter Sniffs Out Nuclear Weapons". Wired. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Steven L. Kay – Nuclearon – Trinitite varieties
- ^ "INTERIM REPORT OF CDC'S LAHDRA PROJECT – Appendix N. pg 39, 40" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2014.
- ^ "Authenticating Trinitite nearly 70 years later". Enformable. July 10, 2014. Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ Gomez, Adrian (February 16, 202). "Meanwhile, back at the ranch". The Albuquerque Journal. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ 5 Bits of Trinitite Glass from the Corning Museum of Glass website. Accessed on June 4, 2021
- ^ Manhattan Project Artifacts from the National Atomic Testing Museum's website. Accessed on June 4, 2021
- ^ Science Museum Group. Specimen of sand melted by the explosion of the first test atomic bomb, New Mexico, July 1945. 1946-182. Science Museum Group Collection Online. Accessed June 4, 2021.
- ^ TRINITITE FRAGMENT from the Canadian War Museum's website. Accessed on June 4, 2021
- ^ Smith, Adam (April 29, 2021). "Seti is building a 'Library of the Great Silence' for alien civilisations to use". msn.org. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
- ^ Mayer, Pia (February 28, 2019). "Trevor Paglen unveils 'Sites Unseen' at MCASD Downtown". The Mesa Press. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
- ^ Trinitite, Ground Zero, Trinity Site, New Mexico on the website of the Denver Art Museum. Accessed on June 4, 2021
- ISBN 9780297863878. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ^ Radiological Conditions at the Former French Nuclear Test Sites in Algeria: Preliminary Assessment and Recommendations International Atomic Energy Agency, 2005
- Cosmos Magazine. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- PMID 23690611.
Further reading
- Recent onsite gamma measurements at the Trinity test site and a comparison to trinitite samples 2011