Abundance of live 244Pu in deep-sea reservoirs on Earth points to rarity of actinide nucleosynthesis

A. Wallner (), T. Faestermann, J. Feige, C. Feldstein, K. Knie, G. Korschinek, W. Kutschera, A. Ofan, Muthucattu Paul, F. Quinto, G. Rugel and P. Steier
Additional contact information
A. Wallner: Australian National University
T. Faestermann: Technische Universität München
J. Feige: VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
C. Feldstein: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University
K. Knie: Technische Universität München
G. Korschinek: Technische Universität München
W. Kutschera: VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
A. Ofan: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University
F. Quinto: VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
G. Rugel: Technische Universität München
P. Steier: VERA Laboratory, Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Währinger Strasse 17, A-1090 Vienna, Austria

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Half of the heavy elements including all actinides are produced in r-process nucleosynthesis, whose sites and history remain a mystery. If continuously produced, the Interstellar Medium is expected to build-up a quasi-steady state of abundances of short-lived nuclides (with half-lives ≤100 My), including actinides produced in r-process nucleosynthesis. Their existence in today’s interstellar medium would serve as a radioactive clock and would establish that their production was recent. In particular 244Pu, a radioactive actinide nuclide (half-life=81 My), can place strong constraints on recent r-process frequency and production yield. Here we report the detection of live interstellar 244Pu, archived in Earth’s deep-sea floor during the last 25 My, at abundances lower than expected from continuous production in the Galaxy by about 2 orders of magnitude. This large discrepancy may signal a rarity of actinide r-process nucleosynthesis sites, compatible with neutron-star mergers or with a small subset of actinide-producing supernovae.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6956

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