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Irving Friedman

Publications and source records attributed to Irving Friedman.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Tritium and deuterium content of atmospheric hydrogen

The tritium and deuterium content of 24 samples of atmospheric hydrogen collected at ground level near Buffalo. N.Y. (U.S.A.). Hamburg (Germany), and Nürnberg (Germany) during 1954 to 1956 was measured. At the beginning of 1954 the T/H-ratio was found to have been 9.18 · 10 -14 i.e. about a factor of 10 higher than 1949 (FALTINGS and HARTECK) and 1951 (v. GROSSE et al.), probably due to the first explosion of a thermonuclear device in November 1952. In spite of a major test series of thermonuclear weapons in spring of 1954 (Operation CASTLE) no further increase in the tritium content was found during 1954 and 1955. It shows instead a seasonal variation with low tritium content in summer and about a threefold higher one in winter. Simultaneously, there is a good correlation between the tritium and deuterium concentrations. From 1956 on a noticeable increase in the tritium content due to more man-made HT produced or released by thermonuclear devices into the atmosphere was found, in agreement with measurements by GONSIOR. A possible explanation of the experimental results as well as a mode to test the validity of the model suggested is given. The deuterium concentrations of the samples analysed vary between about +7 percent and –17 percent, compared to Standard Lake Michigan Water with a ratio D/H = 0.0148 ± 0.0002 mol percent. Although from these results only a correlation factor between the tritium and deuterium content of “mean atmospheric hydrogen” and not their absolute values can be derived it is obvious that atmospheric hydrogen and the water vapour of the atmosphere are not in thermodynamic equilibrium, as has been pointed out before by HARTECK and SUESS.

Zeitschrift fur Naturforschung A

The deuterium blance of Lake Maracaibo

A balance sheet for the gains and losses of deuterium from Lake Maracaibo, using estimates based on climatological data for the exchanges of water and measurements of the deuterium content of lake water, rainfall, river flow, and Caribbean Sea water to obtain the volumes of the deuterium exchange, indicates that the relations are qualitatively satisfactory, although not numerically exact.

Lake Maracaibo

Deuterium content of water from wells and perennial springs, southeastern California

The areal distribution of the concentrations of the stable isotopes deuterium and oxygen-18 in ground water in southeastern California is depicted and evaluated in this report. The deuterium content of about 300 ground-water samples and the oxygen-18 content of 101 of these samples are presented. Thirty-two of the samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1977–78 as part of a study to determine the mineral and brine potential of playa lakes in selected basins in southeastern California. Most of the remaining samples were collected during the winters and springs of 1981 and 1982 as part of the Climate Change Program of the Geological Survey. Selected additional samples were collected through 1986. Stable-isotope data from three previous studies also have been included. These data are for 19 samples from the Coso thermal area east of the southern Sierra Nevada (Fournier and Thompson, 1980, tables 1,2), 5 samples from areas in Nevada just east of Death Valley (Winograd and Friedman, 1972, table 1), and 9 samples from the Imperial Valley (Coplen, 1971, table 1). Also presented for comparison are weighted averages of deuterium content of recent precipitation collected for this report at 32 stations over the 7-year period from April 1982 to April 1989 (Irving Friedman and G.I. Smith, U.S. Geological Survey, written commun., 1989).

Hydrologic Atlas

Modification of δ D values in eastern Nevada granitoid rocks spatially related to thrust faults

Stable isotope data have been determined for 13 Mesozoic and Tertiary plutons in eastern Nevada and nearby Utah. In the southern Snake Range of eastern Nevada, where relations are best exposed and have been most intensively studied, δ D, δ 18 O, and apparent K-Ar ages depend on proximity to the Snake Range decollement. Where stresses resulting from late movement on the decollement have caused cataclasis of Oligocene (37 Ma) granitoid rock, δ 18 O, δ D, and K-Ar age values as low as −2.5‰, −155‰, and 18 Ma, respectively, have been determined. Where there has been no cataclasis, δ 18 O values of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Oligocene granitoid rocks are apparently unaffected, but both δ D values and K-Ar ages have been modified for distances of tens of meters below the decollement. Results similar to those in the southern Snake Range have been observed in other eastern Nevada granitoid rocks spatially related to regional thrust faults, as in the Kern Mountains, the Toana Range, and the northern Egan Range. In each of these areas cataclasis or deformation of granitoid rocks has resulted in lowered δ 18 O, δ D, and K-Ar age values. Where there has been no cataclasis or deformation, δ 18 O values are unaffected, but both δ D and K-Ar age values have been lowered by stresses resulting from postcrystallization movement along overlying thrust faults. Many of the plutons discussed have not been deeply eroded, and spatially related thrust faults crop out. Where thrust faults are not in evidence and the granitoid rocks give δ D values lower than about −130‰ along with spuriously low K-Ar age results, modification of the δ D and K-Ar age values may have been caused by stresses related to late movement along an overlying (now eroded) thrust fault.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology

Comment on the International Atomic Energy Agency Report on the Advisory Group Meeting on Stable Isotope Reference Samples for Geochemical and Hydrological Investigation, Vienna, Austria, September 19-21, 1983

According to U.S. Geological Survey records, a report prepared by R. Gonfiantini summarizing the findings and recommendations of the 1983 Advisory Group Meeting on Stable Isotope Reference Samples for Geochemical and Hydrologic Investigations held in Vienna does not accurately represent the consultants ' consensus on three important points. The consultants (1) recommended no value for the C02-H20 oxygen isotope fractionation factor, not the cited value of 1.04115, (2) adopted a value of 1.0309 rather than 1.03086 to relate the PDB and SMOW scales, and (3) adopted a firm 180 value of -2.20% for NBS-19 on the PDB scale rather than agreeing that this would be a tentative value subject to modification when more measurements in selected laboratories are available. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report