Abstract
RECENT work by S. Raboy and C. C. Traul1 on the background of sodium iodide scintillation counters suggested to us that it should be possible to measure the thorium content of a rock directly by counting the 2.62 MeV. γ-ray emitted in the decay of thorium C″ (208Tl) to stable lead-208, since this γ-ray is more energetic than any in the uranium series. Through the generosity of the American Government a large sodium iodide crystal and suitable photomultiplier and the necessary electronic equipment were available to us to try out the method.
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References
Raboy, S., and Traul, C. C., Nuc. Inst. and Methods, 9, 145 (1960).
Van Oostrum, K. J., and Meijer, A. C., Nuc. Inst. and Methods, 10, 31 (1961).
Picciotto, E., and Wilgain, S., Nature, 173, 632 (1954).
Hurley, P. M., Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., 67, 395 (1956).
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POOLE, J., BYRNE, F. Measurement of the Thorium Content of Natural Materials by a γ-Ray Counting Method. Nature 191, 62–63 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/191062a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/191062a0
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