[ RadSafe ] Dinosaur Bones

[Don Halter]

Joe,
I never checked dinosaur bones, but I have quite a few other fossils, mainly petrified woods, that are radioactive. This is due to the mineralization, not the actual wood or bone. The mineralization incorporated uranium compounds from the surrounding ground into the fossil. In the petrified woods, this is usually a black colored oxide of uranium. These were from both South TX and Northwest NV and when measured on contact using a Bicron Micro-rem meter, can be up to 60-70 micro-rem/hr. About the same as a good vintage orange Fiestaware plate.  I also have some fossil bones (fossilized, but not petrified) from aquatic mammals that are also slightly radioactive. As with the petrified wood, these have mineral deposits infused into the bone. For comparison, I have some uranium mineral bearing rocks from Russia and Central/East Africa that are about half-fist size and are ~ 3-4 mR/hr on contact with a Ludlum 44-2.

Don

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of JPreisig at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2013 12:10 PM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Dinosaur Bones

Dear Radsafe,
 
     Hope you are well.  According to television  (Ancient Aliens show) Dinosaur bones are quite radioactive
(Calcium, K-40, Radon, what else???).  Anybody ever count any???   What 
were the radionuclides
present?????
 
    They also suggest, possibly, that nuclear warheads were  also a possible mechanism for ending the dinosaur era.  Wonder who nuked  them????  I guess some dinosaurs survived the bombing (birds, some  reptiles, some dinosaurs, Nessie (Loch Ness), Coelocanths etc.).  I guess  Ocean water would be a pretty good shield against nuclear blasts.
 
    I guess other mechanisms for dinosaur destruction were comets/asteroids, volcanoes, etc.
 
    If nuclear bombing of the Earth did occur, then one  wonders how completely (by surface area) the Earth's surface was  destroyed.  Is the iridium layer observed worldwide rather continuous in  extent and thickness, and 
could it have been produced by nuclear warheads?   Or is the Iridium layer 
distribution more pointlike
(i.e. indicated by circular areas on the Earth's surface, i.e. kindof like a Poisson Distribution???).
 
    Maybe some of you can stop laughing/guffawing now.   Time to get your 
favorite Geiger counter or portable MultiChannel Analyzer and  Germanium detector and count some bones at your local museum.
 
    One Ancient Alien Archeology site had traces of  radioactivity, but the buildings etc. were still standing.
Did someone have a neutron bomb way back when????  Of course, the  Ancient Alien shows never tell you the activity levels present or the  radionuclides which were present.
 
    Regards, Joe Preisig   
 
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