Mineralogy, O18/O16, and D/H ratios have been determined in five size fractions (<0.1, 0.1–0.5, 0.5–1.0, 1.0–2.0, and >2.0µm) of seven samples taken from 500 m of Pleistocene deep-sea sediments cored at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 180 in the Aleutian Trench. The depositional age of the samples spans the last 300,000 years; the samples have been interpreted by others to be continental detritus weathered from a mixed igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary source area and then deposited by ice-rafting and turbidity currents. The minerals present are quartz, feldspar, illite, chlorite and/or non-expandable vermiculite, and expandable vermiculite and/or mixed-layer illite/expandable vermiculite. The relative amounts of quartz, feldspar, and total clay vary with particle size, but are nearly constant from sample to sample for a given particle size. δO18 is values of the four coarser size fractions range from +9.7 to +12.0‰ with variations attributable to changes in quartz/feldspar and clay/(quartz + feldspar) abundances. Values of δO18 for the expandable vermiculite-rich <0.1-µm size fraction range from +12.1 to +16.3‰ which indicates some oxygen isotope exchange at surface temperatures between meteoric waters and the parent rock during vermiculite formation. Values of δD range from −46 to −74‰ with variations attributable to changes in amounts of different clay minerals present. There is no mineralogic or isotopic evidence of post-depositional reactions in the coarser size fractions, but a general change in δD of the vermiculite-rich, <0.1-µm size fraction from about −50‰ to about −70‰ with increasing depth may be due either to post-depositional isotopic exchange or to climatic changes in the terrestrial weathering environment.

We are performing systematic observation studies on the Galactic interstellar isotopic ratios, including 18O/17O, 12C/13C, 14N/15N and 32S/34S. Our strategy focuses on combination of multi-transition observation data toward large samples with different Galactocentric distances. Our preliminary results show positive Galactic radial gradients of 18O/17O and 12C/13C. In both cases, the ratio increases with the Galactocentric distance, which agrees with the inside-out scenario of our Galaxy. Observations of other isotopes such as 14N/15N and 32S/34S are on-going.

Among presolar SiC grains found in the Murchison carbonaceous meteorites (average size less than 0.5 μm) are very large grains, ranging in size up to 50 μm. We interpret 6Li excesses measured in eight of these grains as being the result of spallation reactions by Galactic cosmic rays during the time the grains spent in the interstellar medium before their incorporation into the meteorite. Derived interstellar exposure ages range from 40 My to 1 Gy, the highest values being consistent with theoretical expectations of interstellar grain lifetimes. Although six grains have almost identical C and Si isotopic compositions, their exposure ages are very different. This observation, combined with low trace element contents, and unusual grain sizes, raises fundamental questions about their stellar sources.

We report on a concerted effort aimed at understanding the origin and history of the pre-solar nanodiamonds in meteorites including the astrophysical sources of the observed isotopic abundance signatures. This includes measurement of light elements by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), analysis of additional heavy trace elements by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and dynamic calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis with updated nuclear properties. Results obtained indicate that: (i) there is no evidence for the former presence of now-extinct 26Al and 44Ti in our diamond samples other than what can be attributed to silicon carbide and other ‘impurities’, and this does not offer support for a supernova (SN) origin but neither does it negate it; (ii) analysis by AMS of platinum in ‘bulk diamond’ yields an overabundance of r-only 198Pt that at face value seems more consistent with the neutron burst than with the separation model for the origin of heavy trace elements in the diamonds, although this conclusion is not firm given analytical uncertainties; (iii) if the Xe–H pattern was established by an unadulterated r-process, it must have been a strong variant of the main r-process, which possibly could also account for the new observations in platinum.

The application of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) for characterization of mixed plutonium and uranium particles from nuclear weapons material is presented. The particles originated from the so-called Thule accident in Greenland in 1968. Morphological properties have been studied by SEM and two groups were identified: a “popcorn” structure and a spongy structure. The same technique, coupled with an energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectrometer, showed a heterogeneous composition of Pu and U in the surface layers of the particles. The SIMS depth profiles revealed a varying isotopic composition indicating a heterogeneous mixture of Pu and U in the original nuclear weapons material itself. The depth distributions agree with synchrotron-radiation-based μ-XRF (X-ray fluorescence microprobe) measurements on the particle (Eriksson, M., Wegryzynek, D., Simon, R., & Chinea-Cano, E., in prep.) when a SIMS relative sensitivity factor for Pu to U of 6 is assumed. Different SIMS identified isotopic ratio groups are presented, and the influence of interferences in the Pu and U mass range are estimated. The study found that the materials are a mixture of highly enriched 235U (235U:238U ratio from 0.96 to 1.4) and so-called weapons grade Pu (240Pu:239Pu ratio from 0.028 to 0.059) and confirms earlier work reported in the literature.