Trinitite

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{{Anchor|Robert E. Hermes}}

In 2005 it was theorized by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist Robert E. Hermes and independent investigator William Strickfaden that much of the glass was formed by sand which was drawn up inside the fireball and then rained down in a liquid form.{{cite web |url=http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/NewTrinititeTheory.htm |first1=Kevin |last1=Casey |year=2006 |title=New Theory on the Formation of Trinitite |accessdate=2014-03-17 |website=White Sands Missile Range |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080726072410/http://www.wsmr.army.mil/pao/TrinitySite/NewTrinititeTheory.htm |archivedate=2008-07-26 }}{{Cite Q |Q124694670 |author-last1=Hermes |author-first1=Robert E. |author-link1=Robert E. Hermes |author-last2=Strickfaden |author-first2=William B.}} In a 2010 article in Geology Today, Nelson Eby of University of Massachusetts Lowell and Robert Hermes describe trinitite: {{blockquote|text=Contained within the glass are melted bits of the first atomic bomb and the support structures and various radionuclides formed during the detonation. The glass itself is marvelously complex at the tens to hundreds of micrometre scale, and besides glasses of varying composition also contains unmelted quartz grains. Air transport of the melted material led to the formation of spheres and dumbbell shaped glass particles. Similar glasses are formed during all ground level nuclear detonations and contain forensic information that can be used to identify the atomic device.{{cite journal | title=Trinitite—the atomic rock | date=24 September 2010 |last1=Eby |first1=N. |last2=Hermes |first2=R. |last3=Charnley |first3=N. |last4=Smoliga |first4=J. | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2451.2010.00767.x | volume=26 |issue = 5| pages=180–185 | journal=Geology Today|doi-access=free | bibcode=2010GeolT..26..180E }}}}

This was supported by a 2011 study based on nuclear imaging and spectrometric techniques.{{cite journal |last1=Belloni |first1=F. |last2=Himbert |first2=J. |last3=Marzocchi |first3=O. |last4=Romanello |first4=V. |title=Investigating incorporation and distribution of radionuclides in trinitite |journal=Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |date=2011 |volume=102 |issue=9 |pages=852–862 |doi=10.1016/j.jenvrad.2011.05.003 |pmid=21636184 |bibcode=2011JEnvR.102..852B }} Green trinitite is theorised by researchers to contain material from the bomb's support structure, while red trinitite contains material originating from copper electrical wiring.{{cite news |last=Powell |first=Devin |date=June 18, 2013 |title=Riddle of the sands scattered around Trinity atomic test site |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/18/trinitite-atomic-plutonium-oppenheimer |work=The Guardian |location= |access-date=May 23, 2021}}

An estimated {{convert|4,300|GJ|erg}} of heat energy went into forming the glass. As the temperature required to melt the sand into the observed glass form was about {{convert|1470|C|F}}, this was estimated to have been the minimum temperature the sand was exposed to.{{cite web |url=http://www.lahdra.org/reports/LAHDRA%20Report%20v5%202007_App%20N_Trinity%20Test.pdf |title=INTERIM REPORT OF CDC'S LAHDRA PROJECT – Appendix N. pg 38 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317164653/http://www.lahdra.org/reports/LAHDRA%20Report%20v5%202007_App%20N_Trinity%20Test.pdf |archivedate=2014-03-17 }} Material within the blast fireball was superheated for an estimated 2–3 seconds before solidification. Relatively volatile elements such as zinc are found in decreasing quantities the closer the trinitite was formed to the centre of the blast. The higher the temperature, the more these volatile elements evaporated and were not captured as the material solidified.{{cite news |last=Crane |first=Leah |date=February 8, 2017 |title=Glass from nuclear test site shows the moon was born dry |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2120748-glass-from-nuclear-test-site-shows-the-moon-was-born-dry/ |work=New Scientist |location= |access-date=May 24, 2021}}

The detonation left large quantities of trinitite scattered around the crater, with Time writing in September 1945 that the site took the appearance of "[a] lake of green jade," while "[t]he glass takes strange shapes—lopsided marbles, knobbly sheets a quarter-inch thick, broken, thin-walled bubbles, green, wormlike forms." The presence of rounded, beadlike forms suggests that some material melted after being thrown into the air and landed already formed, rather than remaining at ground level and being melted there. Other trinitite which formed on the ground contains inclusions of infused sand. This trinitite cooled rapidly on its upper surface, while the lower surface was superheated.{{cite news |last=Patrick H. Donohue, Antonio Simonetti |first= |date=January 2016 |title=Vesicle Size Distribution as a Novel Nuclear Forensics Tool |url=http://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC5033408&blobtype=pdf |work=PLoS One |location= |access-date=June 4, 2021}}

File:Trinitite backlight.jpg

Image:Trinityglassactivity.png

The chaotic nature of trinitite's creation has resulted in variations in both structure and composition. The glass has been described as "a layer 1 to 2 centimeters thick, with the upper surface marked by a very thin sprinkling of dust which fell upon it while it was still molten. At the bottom is a thicker film of partially fused material, which grades into the soil from which it was derived. The color of the glass is a pale bottle green, and the material is extremely vesicular with the size of the bubbles ranging to nearly the full thickness of the specimen." The most common form of trinitite is green fragments of 1–3 cm thick, smooth on one side and rough on the other; this is the trinitite that cooled after landing still-molten on the desert floor.{{Cite Q |Q124711384 |author-last1=Bailey |author-first1=Daniel J. |author-last2=Stennett |author-first2=Martin C. |author-last3=Ravel |author-first3=Bruce D. |author-last4=Crean |author-first4=Daniel E. |author-last5=Hyatt |author-first5=Neil C.}}

Around 30% of trinitite is void space, although quantities vary greatly between samples. Trinitite exhibits various other defects such as cracks. In trinitite that cooled after landing, the smooth upper surface contains large numbers of small vesicles while the lower rough layer has lower vesicle density but larger vesicles. It is primarily alkaline.

One of the more unusual isotopes found in trinitite is a barium neutron activation product, the barium in the Trinity device coming from the slow explosive lens employed in the device, known as Baratol. Quartz is the only surviving mineral in most trinitite. Trinitite no longer contains sufficient radiation to be harmful unless swallowed. It still contains the radionuclides ²⁴¹Am, ¹³⁷Cs and ¹⁵²Eu owing to the Trinity test using a plutonium bomb.

There are two forms of trinitite glass with differing refraction indices. The lower-index glass is composed largely of silicon dioxide, with the higher-index variant having mixed components. Red trinitite exists in both variants and contains glass rich in copper, iron, and lead as well as metallic globules. Black trinitite's colour is as a result of being rich in iron.

In a study published in 2021 a sample of red trinitite was found to contain a previously undiscovered complex quasicrystal, the oldest known manmade quasicrystal, with a symmetry group in the shape of an icosahedron. It is composed of iron, silicon, copper and calcium. The quasicrystal's structure displays fivefold rotational symmetry.{{cite press release |author= |date=May 17, 2021 |title=Newly discovered quasicrystal was created by the first nuclear explosion at Trinity Site |url=https://discover.lanl.gov/news/0517-quasicrystal |publisher=Los Alamos National Laboratory |location=Los Alamos, New Mexico |access-date=March 2, 2024}} The quasicrystal research was led by geologist Luca Bindi of the University of Florence and Paul Steinhardt, after he theorised red trinitite was likely to contain quasicrystals as they often contain elements that rarely combine.{{cite news |last=Castelvecchi |first=Davide |date=May 17, 2021 |title=First nuclear detonation created 'impossible' quasicrystals |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01332-0 |work=Nature |location= |access-date=May 23, 2021}}{{cite news |last=Privitera |first=Salvo |date=May 24, 2021 |title=Un 'quasicristallo' impossibile è stato trovato nel luogo del primo test nucleare |url=https://tech.everyeye.it/notizie/quasicristallo-impossibile-test-nucleare-519415.html |work=Everyeye Tech |location= |access-date=May 24, 2021|language=it}} The structure has a formula of {{chem2|Si61Cu30Ca7Fe2}}. A single 10μm grain was detected after ten months of work examining six small samples of red trinitite.{{cite news |last=Schultz |first=Isaac |date=May 18, 2021 |title=Researchers Find 'Forbidden' Quasicrystal in Wake of Nuclear Bomb Test |url=https://gizmodo.com/researchers-find-forbidden-quasicrystal-in-wake-of-nu-1846917496 |website=Gizmodo |access-date=March 2, 2024}}

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A 2010 study in the open access journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined trinitite's potential value to the field of nuclear forensics.{{cite news |last=Spotts |first=Pete |date=November 12, 2010 |title=Scientists use 'trinitite' from 1945 to help decode nuclear blasts |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/1112/Scientists-use-trinitite-from-1945-to-help-decode-nuclear-blasts |work=The Christian Science Monitor |location= |access-date=May 25, 2021}} Prior to this research, it was assumed trinitite's components fused identically and their original composition could not be discerned. The study demonstrated that glass from nuclear detonations could provide information about the device and associated components, such as packaging.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=November 8, 2010 |title=Nuclear debris could reveal clues of bomb's origin |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11714316 |work=BBC |location= |access-date=May 27, 2021}}

During the 2010s millions of dollars of research was undertaken examining trinitite to better understand what information such glasses held that could be used to understand the nuclear explosion that created them. The researchers theorized that trinitite analysis may be useful for forensically identifying perpetrators of a future nuclear attack.{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Casey |date=November 11, 2010 |title=Nuclear debris carries signatures of bomb that caused it |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2010/11/nuclear-debris-carries-signatures-of-bomb-that-caused-it/ |work=Ars Technica |location= |access-date=May 28, 2021}}

Researchers involved with the discovery of the quasicrystal speculated their work could improve efforts to investigate nuclear weapons proliferation since quasicrystals do not decay, unlike other evidence produced by nuclear weapons testing. Trinitite has been chosen as a research subject partly because the nuclear test was well-documented. A 2015 study in the Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry funded by the National Nuclear Security Administration describes a method by which trinitite-like glass could be deliberately synthesized for use as test subjects for new nuclear forensic techniques.{{cite journal |author-first1=Joshua J. |author-last1=Molgaard |author-first2=John D. |author-last2=Auxier |author-first3=Andrew V. |author-last3=Giminaro |author-first4=C. J. |author-last4=Oldham |author-first5=Matthew T. |author-last5=Cook |author-first6=Stephen A. |author-last6=Young |author-first7=Howard L. |author-last7=Hall |date=January 20, 2015 |title=Development of synthetic nuclear melt glass for forensic analysis |journal=Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry |volume= 304|issue= 3|pages= 1293–1301|doi= 10.1007/s10967-015-3941-8|pmid= 26224989|pmc= 4514012|bibcode=2015JRNC..304.1293M }} Laser ablation was first successfully used to identify the isotopic signature unique to the uranium within the bomb from a sample of trinitite, demonstrating this faster method's effectiveness.{{cite magazine |last=Scoles |first=Sarah |date=November 6, 2018 |title=How a Uranium Hunter Sniffs Out Nuclear Weapons |url=https://www.wired.com/story/how-a-uranium-hunter-sniffs-out-nuclear-weapons/ |magazine=Wired |location= |access-date=May 28, 2021}}

File:Sign Prohibiting Removal of Trinite at Ground Zero.jpg

Trinitite was not initially considered remarkable in the context of the nuclear test and ongoing war, but when the war ended visitors began to notice the glass and collect it as souvenirs. For a time it was believed that the desert sand had simply melted from the direct radiant thermal energy of the fireball and was not particularly dangerous. Thus, it was marketed as suitable for use in jewelry in 1945[http://www.radiochemistry.org/documents/pdf/trinitite_nuclearon_061608.pdf Steven L. Kay – Nuclearon – Trinitite varieties]{{cite web |url=http://www.lahdra.org/reports/LAHDRA%20Report%20v5%202007_App%20N_Trinity%20Test.pdf |title=INTERIM REPORT OF CDC'S LAHDRA PROJECT – Appendix N. pg 39, 40 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317164653/http://www.lahdra.org/reports/LAHDRA%20Report%20v5%202007_App%20N_Trinity%20Test.pdf |archivedate=2014-03-17 }} and 1946.{{cite news |last=Rhodes |first=Richard |date=September 2019 |title=A Chunk of Trinitite Reminds Us of the Sheer, Devastating Power of the Atomic Bomb |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/chunk-trinitite-reminds-sheer-devastating-power-atomic-bomb-180972848/ |work=Smithsonian Magazine |location= |access-date=May 21, 2021}} It is now illegal to take the remaining material from the site, much of which has been removed by the US government and buried elsewhere in New Mexico; however, material that was taken prior to this prohibition is still in the hands of collectors and available legally in mineral shops.{{cite news |last=Geuss |first=Martin |date=January 9, 2014 |title=Trinitite: The radioactive rock buried in New Mexico before the Atari games |url=https://arstechnica.com/staff/2014/09/trinitite-the-radioactive-rock-buried-in-new-mexico-before-the-atari-games/ |work=Ars Technica |location= |access-date=May 5, 2021}} Counterfeit trinitite is also on the market; trinitite's authenticity requires scientific analysis.{{cite news |last= |first= |date=July 10, 2014 |title=Authenticating Trinitite nearly 70 years later |url=http://enformable.com/2014/07/authenticating-trinitite-nearly-70-years-later/ |work=Enformable |location= |access-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-date=May 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210524001335/http://enformable.com/2014/07/authenticating-trinitite-nearly-70-years-later/ |url-status=dead }} There are samples in the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum,{{cite news |last=Gomez |first=Adrian |date=February 16, 202 |title=Meanwhile, back at the ranch |url=https://www.abqjournal.com/1421129/meanwhile-back-at-the-ranch.html |work=The Albuquerque Journal |location= |access-date=May 27, 2021}} and the Corning Museum of Glass;[https://www.cmog.org/artwork/5-bits-trinitite-glass 5 Bits of Trinitite Glass] from the Corning Museum of Glass website. Accessed on June 4, 2021 the National Atomic Testing Museum houses a paperweight containing trinitite.[https://nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/2020/07/15/manhattan-project-artifacts/ Manhattan Project Artifacts] from the National Atomic Testing Museum's website. Accessed on June 4, 2021 In the United Kingdom Science Museum Group's collection contains a trinitite sample,Science Museum Group. [https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co5565/specimen-of-sand-melted-by-the-explosion-of-the-first-test-atomic-bomb-new-mexico-july-1945-trinitite-mineral-specimens Specimen of sand melted by the explosion of the first test atomic bomb, New Mexico, July 1945.] 1946-182. Science Museum Group Collection Online. Accessed June 4, 2021. as does the Canadian War Museum[https://www.warmuseum.ca/collections/artifact/3119463/?q=&page_num=1&item_num=10&media_irn=5742632 TRINITITE FRAGMENT] from the Canadian War Museum's website. Accessed on June 4, 2021 in Canada.

The SETI Institute, which seeks to find and research signs of intelligent life elsewhere in space, stated in 2021 that trinitite was to be included in their library of objects connected to "transformational moments" of potential interest to intelligent extraterrestrials.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Adam |date=April 29, 2021 |title=Seti is building a 'Library of the Great Silence' for alien civilisations to use |url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/seti-is-building-a-library-of-the-great-silence-for-alien-civilisations-to-use/ar-BB1gbKaU |work=msn.org |location= |access-date=May 24, 2021}} The sculpture Trinity Cube by Trevor Paglen, exhibited in 2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego as part of a themed collection of Paglen's art titled Sights Unseen, is partially made from trinitite.{{cite news |last=Mayer |first=Pia |date=February 28, 2019 |title=Trevor Paglen unveils 'Sites Unseen' at MCASD Downtown |url=https://www.mesapress.com/a-e/2019/02/28/trevor-paglen-unveils-sites-unseen-at-mcasd-downtown/ |work=The Mesa Press |location= |access-date=May 28, 2021}} The c.1988 artwork Trinitite, Ground Zero, Trinity Site, New Mexico by photographer Patrick Nagatani is housed at the Denver Art Museum.[https://www.denverartmuseum.org/en/object/1992.557 Trinitite, Ground Zero, Trinity Site, New Mexico] on the website of the Denver Art Museum. Accessed on June 4, 2021

Occasionally, the name trinitite is broadly applied to all glassy residues of nuclear bomb testing, not just the Trinity test.{{cite book |title= Lost Oasis: In Search Of Paradise |author= Robert Twigger |date= 2010 |publisher= Hachette |isbn= 9780297863878 |chapter= Eight |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJkGSF8SW_kC&q=trinitite+asteroid&pg=PT85 |accessdate= 2014-03-18 }} Black vitreous fragments of fused sand that had been solidified by the heat of a nuclear explosion were created by French testing at the Reggane site in Algeria.[http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1215_web_new.pdf Radiological Conditions at the Former French Nuclear Test Sites in Algeria: Preliminary Assessment and Recommendations] International Atomic Energy Agency, 2005 Following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, it was discovered in 2016 that between 0.6% and 2.5% of sand on local beaches was fused glass spheres formed during the bombing. Like trinitite, the glass contains material from the local environment, including materials from buildings destroyed in the attack. The material has been called hiroshimaite.{{cite news |last=Carne |first=Nick |date=May 13, 2019 |title=Hiroshima's sands contain atomic bomb glass |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/earth-sciences/hiroshima-sands-contain-atomic-bomb-glass/ |work=Cosmos Magazine |access-date=Mar 1, 2024}} Kharitonchiki (singular: kharitonchik, {{Langx|ru|link=no|харитончик}}) is an analog of trinitite found in Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan at ground zeroes of Soviet atmospheric nuclear tests. The porous black material is named after one of the leading Russian nuclear weapons scientists, Yulii Borisovich Khariton.{{Cite news|date=2006-07-10|title=A Nuclear Family Vacation in Russia|language=en-US|work=Slate|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/dispatches/features/2006/a_nuclear_family_vacation_in_russia/russia_strikes_back.html|access-date=2011-05-13|issn=1091-2339}}File:Fulgurite-Adrar mauritanien (2).jpgTrinitite, in common with several similar naturally occurring minerals, is a melt glass.{{cite journal |title=Evidence for deposition of 10 million tonnes of impact spherules across four continents 12,800 y ago. |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |doi=10.1073/pnas.1301760110 |pmid=23690611 |vauthors=Wittke JH, Weaver JC, Bunch TE, Kennett JP, Kennett DJ, Moore AM, Hillman GC, Tankersley KB, Goodyear AC, Moore CR, Daniel IR Jr, Ray JH, Lopinot NH, Ferraro D, Israde-Alcántara I, Bischoff JL, DeCarli PS, Hermes RE, Kloosterman JB, Revay Z, Howard GA, Kimbel DR, Kletetschka G, Nabelek L, Lipo CP, Sakai S, West A, Firestone RB |date=2013 |pmc=3677428 |volume=110 |issue=23 |pages=E2088–97|bibcode=2013PNAS..110E2088W |doi-access=free }} While trinitite and materials of similar formation processes such as lavinite are anthropogenic, fulgurites, found in many thunderstorm-prone regions and in deserts, are naturally-formed, glassy materials and are generated by lightning striking sediments such as sand. Impactite, a material similar to trinitite, can be formed by meteor impacts. The Moon's geology includes many rocks formed by one or more large impacts in which increasingly volatile elements are found in lower amounts the closer they are to the point of impact, similar to the distribution of volatile elements in trinitite.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.osti.gov/scitech/servlets/purl/1074561 Recent onsite gamma measurements at the Trinity test site and a comparison to trinitite samples 2011]

{{Commons category|Trinitite}}

{{Scholia}}

{{wiktionary|trinitite}}

• [https://www.orau.org/health-physics-museum/collection/nuclear-weapons/trinity/trinitite.html Trinitite info and photos]
• [http://www.randomuseless.info/spectra/results/trinitite/index.html Radiographic spectrum of trinitite]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20220910172142/http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/trinity.htm Ralph Pray's account of removing trinitite from the site]
• [http://www.hscott.net/analyzing-trinitite-a-radioactive-piece-of-nuclear-history/ Full analysis of trinitite sample]

Category:Nuclear weapons testing

Category:Manhattan Project

Category:Glass compositions

Category:Quasicrystals

Category:Radioactive minerals