Trinitite

Trinitite, also known as Atomite or Alamogordo Glass, is the name given to the glassy residue left on the desert floor after the plutonium-based Trinity nuclear bomb test July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. The glass is primarily composed of silica and feldspar that was melted by the atomic blast. It is usually a light green color, although in some cases it is other colors. It is mildly radioactive, but is safe to handle for limited periods of time. [Kolb, W.M., and Carlock, P.G. Trinitite, 1999, "The Atomic Age Mineral." This does not link to the book. http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/hiroshimatrinity/trinitite.htm ] ["Nuclear weapons question", Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum. May not be entirely accurate. http://www.bautforum.com/general-science/9499-nuclear-weapons-question.html ]

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, samples were gathered and sold to mineral collectors as a novelty. Traces of the material can be found at the Trinity Site today, though most of it was bulldozed and buried by the United States Atomic Energy Commission in 1952. It is now illegal to take the remaining material from the site. However, material that was taken prior to this prohibition is still in the hands of collectors.

In 2005 it was theorized by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Robert Hermes and independent investigator William Strickfaden that much of the mineral was formed not simply by sand which was exposed to the fireball, but the sand which was drawn up inside the fireball itself and then rained down in a liquid form. [Robert Hermes and William Strickfaden, 2005, "New Theory on the Formation of Trinitite", Nuclear Weapons Journal http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/NewTrinititeTheory.htm ]

A number of different types of Trinitite have been identified. Green is the most common form. Black contains iron from the tower structure. Red contains copper from the 'gadget' itself or from the communications cables which led away from the site. Rounded pearls are also found which come from melted silica that returned to solid form before hitting the ground.

The name Trinitite is occasionally broadly applied to all glassy residues of nuclear bomb testing, not just the Trinity test. There are many known fakes in circulation among collectors. These fakes use a variety of means to achieve the glassy green silica look as well as mild radioactivity. However, only trinitite from a nuclear explosion will contain certain neutron activation products which are not found in naturally radioactive ores and minerals. In addition, more detailed gamma spectroscopy can narrow down the potential nuclear explosions from which the material formed.

Glass Parking Lot

Glass parking lot is a reference to an area of sand after a nuclear bomb is detonated above it. The expression rose out of nuclear tests in the U.S. state of New Mexico during the Manhattan Project. The heat from the bombs caused the sand near the fireball to melt and become a light-green, glass-like substance later dubbed "Trinitite".

The phrase is often employed as a proposal for using nuclear weapons or another extreme military response to foreign aggression, especially in Middle Eastern and South Asian conflict areas where sandy deserts are common. The same phrase is also used cynically to criticize such hardline mentality as hawkish and simplistic, and is often suggested facetiously as an answer to mundane problems.

See also

* Desert glass
* Ice-nine

References

External links

* [http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/hiroshimatrinity/trinitite.htm Trinitite info and photos]
* [http://www.randomuseless.info/spectra/results/trinitite/index.html Radiographic spectrum of Trinitite]