Abstract
OUR communication on the growth of the tritium content of free hydrogen in the atmosphere was written before the publication by Begemann and Friedman1 of detailed measurements for the period 1954–56. These showed considerable seasonal variation, but no pronounced increase during the two years following the Castle test series. Their earliest determination in January 1954 before the Castle test series was 9.18 × 104 tritium units compared with 1.66 ± 0.097 × 104 tritium units found by Grosse et al.2 in the spring of 1952. This obvious increase was concluded by Begemann and Friedman to be due to the Ivy test series of November 1952. Evidence for an earlier increase based on the value 0.38 ± 0.125 × 104 tritium units obtained by Faltings and Harteck3 in 1948–49 now appears to be refuted by the value of 3.5 × 104 tritium units reported by Bainbridge, Suess and Friedman. It may be noted, however, that this value is more than twice that observed by Grosse in 1952. With three sets of observations indicating a substantial increase prior to the Castle tests, it is difficult to support the conclusion of Bainbridge et al. that such an increase is “unlikely”.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Begemann, F., and Z. Naturforsch., 14, a, 1024 (1959).
Grosse, A. V., Kirshenbaum, A. D., Kulp, J. L., and Broecker, W. S., Phys. Rev., 93, 250 (1954).
Harteck, P., J. Chem. Phys., 22, 1746 (1954).
Bishop, K. F., Delafield, H. J., Eggleton, A. E. G., Peabody, C. O., and Taylor, B. T., Paper No. TTS/79, I.A.E.A. Symp. on Detection and Use of Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences, Vienna (1961).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
BISHOP, K., TAYLOR, B. & EGGLETON, A. Isotopic Composition of Atmospheric Hydrogen and Methane. Nature 192, 649 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/192649a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/192649a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.