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Two radiometric dating methods involve thorium isotopes: uranium–thorium dating, based on the decay of 234 U to 230 Th, and ionium–thorium dating, which measures the ratio of 232 Th to 230 Th. [e] These rely on the fact that 232 Th is a primordial radioisotope, but 230 Th only occurs as an intermediate decay product in the decay chain of ...
Thorium concentrations on the Moon, as mapped by Lunar Prospector. Thorium is found in small amounts in most rocks and soils. Soil commonly contains an average of around 6 parts per million (ppm) of thorium. [1] Thorium occurs in several minerals including thorite (ThSiO 4), thorianite (ThO 2 + UO 2) and monazite. Thorianite is a rare mineral ...
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the environment, such as uranium, thorium and potassium and any of their decay products, such as radium and radon. [1]
Thorium has a characteristic terrestrial isotopic composition and thus a standard atomic weight can be given. Thirty-one radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being 232 Th, 230 Th with a half-life of 75,380 years, 229 Th with a half-life of 7,917 years, [2] and 228 Th with a half-life of 1.92 years.
It has a half life of 14.05 billion years, which makes it the longest-lived isotope of thorium. It decays by alpha decay to radium-228; its decay chain terminates at stable lead-208. Thorium-232 is a fertile material; it can capture a neutron to form thorium-233, which subsequently undergoes two successive beta decays to uranium-233, which is ...
A mineral grain from a meteorite preserved evidence that water was present on Mars 4.45 billion years ago, and it may have created hot springs habitable for life. ‘Black Beauty’ was found on ...
Thorium resources are the estimated mineral reserves of thorium on Earth. Thorium is a future potential source of low-carbon energy. [1] Thorium has been demonstrated to perform as a nuclear fuel in several reactor designs. [2] [3] It is present with a higher abundance than uranium in the crust of the earth. Thorium resources have not been ...
A significant amount of water is also stored in Earth's crust, mantle, and core. Unlike molecular H 2 O that is found on the surface, water in the interior exists primarily in hydrated minerals or as trace amounts of hydrogen bonded to oxygen atoms in anhydrous minerals. [22]