Separation of spallation and terrestrial C-14 in chondrites

Weathering products and contamination severely hamper our ability to accurately measure the C-14 spallation component in meteorites, but can give insights into a sample's terrestrial history. A procedure was developed to measure the C-14 in these components using CO and CO2 separations from temperature extractions from 200-500 mg of material. The Bruderheim (L6) chondrite was chosen as a standard following the practice of previous researchers, crosschecked against Peace River (L6), Abee (EH4), and Juvinas (EUC). Low temperature fractions (less than 900 C) give C-14 signatures consistent with a modern terrestrial C-14 source; melt fractions show elevated levels attesting to a spallogenic origin. Higher yields of CO in the melt fraction are less affected by the low levels of experimental contamination than the CO2. This fraction gave a mean CO:CO2 ratio in Bruderheim of 81.6 +/- 7.7; the ratio of the spallation component is 79.8 +/- 8.1. These values suggest equilibrium release of gases on the olivine-silica-pyroxene-iron buffer. This is corroborated by approximately equal release of the two components at 900 C. The chondrites gave an average saturation level of 54.3 +/- 2.9 dpm/kg; the achondrite gave 49.6 +/- 2.0 dpm/kg. No clear correlation with oxygen content is apparent, though shielding effects have yet to be evaluated. A further evaluation of this subject matter is given.