Abstract
The extraordinarily high concentrations of indium and other siderophiles found in Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary deposits have been interpreted1 as a result of a large extraterrestrial body falling upon the Earth, causing mass extinction of the biota dominant in the Cretaceous. The existing alternative models of the Cretaceous terminal event try to explain the anomaly of siderophile elements by their being concentrated through sedimentation or volcanic eruptions2,3. To understand the nature of the K/T event, it is important to establish the proportions of siderophiles and their isotopes in boundary deposits of that age, especially the proportions of platinum-group elements, their concentrations in extraterrestrial material being high and occurring in ratios differing from those typical of terrestrial material. Here we present the first data on rhodium concentrations at the K/T boundary in the Sumbar-SM-4 section (Turkmen SSR) obtained by the ultrasensitive laser photoionization spectroscopy (LAPIS) technique4,5. The maximum Rh concentration in the samples studied is 24.2 ng g−1The Rh/Ir ratio is 0.34±0.06, which is close to the cosmic ratio of these elements. The LAPIS technique is efficient and can be used for determining the concentrations of all siderophile elements and their isotopes in geological materials.
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Bekov, G., Letokhov, V., Radaev, V. et al. Rhodium distribution at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary analysed by ultrasensitive laser photoionization. Nature 332, 146–148 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/332146a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/332146a0
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