04/04/2025
By Amanda Vozzo
Time: 4-5 p.m.
Location: Olsen Hall, Room 503
Professor Nelson Eby, Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, UMass Lowell with give a talk on "Trinite: The Atomic Rock"
Abstract: Trinitite (the atomic rock) is a glass formed during the first atomic bomb test (July 16, 1945). Most of the glass is green in color, but some is red in color. Trinitite occurs both as a layer of glass surrounding ground zero and as airborne material that subsequently “rained out” onto the pre-existing glass layer. Melted arkosic sand is the source of more than 99% of the material found in the glass. Additional components are from the steel tower, copper wires, lead bricks, and fission products and other radionuclides directly associated with the atomic bomb test. At the microscale, the glass is very heterogeneous with a number of chemically distinct glasses. At the macroscale, it is possible to identify added components that can be directly linked to the atomic bomb test. Americium and plutonium are well correlated, and the activity ratio of these nuclides may be used to identify the source of the plutonium. Additionally, a new quasicrystal was found in the red glass. The atomic bomb test also provides an opportunity to investigate the condensation of elements from a “granitic” vapor phase, information that is applicable to the condensation of elements during planetary formation.
Bio: Nelson Eby is a professor in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. He is a geologist/geochemist. His general area of research is geochemistry, but he has eclectic interests that range from forensic geology to archaeology. Recent projects - characterizing the glass (Trintite) produced during the first atomic bomb test; petrology and geochemistry of Jurassic - Cretaceous magmatism in the northeastern US and Canada; F and Cl in apatite, amphibole, and biotite; sources of obsidian; using treering cores to map environmental change; and atmospheric pollutants and dust sources.