1. Precise initial abundance of Niobium-92 in the Solar System and implications for p -process nucleosynthesis.
- Author
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Haba MK, Lai YJ, Wotzlaw JF, Yamaguchi A, Lugaro M, and Schönbächler M
- Abstract
The niobium-92-zirconium-92 (
92 Nb-92 Zr) decay system with a half-life of 37 Ma has great potential to date the evolution of planetary materials in the early Solar System. Moreover, the initial abundance of the p -process isotope92 Nb in the Solar System is important for quantifying the contribution of p -process nucleosynthesis in astrophysical models. Current estimates of the initial92 Nb/93 Nb ratios have large uncertainties compromising the use of the92 Nb-92 Zr cosmochronometer and leaving nucleosynthetic models poorly constrained. Here, the initial92 Nb abundance is determined to high precision by combining the92 Nb-92 Zr systematics of cogenetic rutiles and zircons from mesosiderites with U-Pb dating of the same zircons. The mineral pair indicates that the92 Nb/93 Nb ratio of the Solar System started with (1.66 ± 0.10) × 10-5 , and their92 Zr/90 Zr ratios can be explained by a three-stage Nb-Zr evolution on the mesosiderite parent body. Because of the improvement by a factor of 6 of the precision of the initial Solar System92 Nb/93 Nb, we can show that the presence of92 Nb in the early Solar System provides further evidence that both type Ia supernovae and core-collapse supernovae contributed to the light p -process nuclei., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interest.- Published
- 2021
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