Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mossman, D. Articles by Farrow, C. E.G. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

Testing for fullerenes in geologic materials: Oklo carbonaceous substances, Karelian shungites, Sudbury Black Tuff

¹ Department of Geography, Mount Allison University, 144 Main St., Sackville, New Brunswick E4L 1A7, Canada
² Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Room D128, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
³ Department of Physics, University of New Brunswick, P.O. Box 4400, Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3, Canada
⁴ Centre de Géochemie de la Surface, Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, et Université Louis Pasteur, 1 rue Blessig, 67084 Strasbourg, France
⁵ Department of Geology, University of Ottawa, 63C York Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5, Canada
⁶ Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
⁷ Inco Technical Services Ltd., Highway 17 West, Copper Cliff, Ontario P0M 1N0, Canada

Fullerenes have been reported from diverse geologic environments since their discovery in shungite from Karelian Russia. Our investigation is prompted by the presence of onionskin-like structures in some carbonaceous substances associated with the fossil nuclear fission reactors of Oklo, Gabon. The same series of extractions and the same instrumental techniques, laser desorption ionization and high-resolution mass spectroscopy (electron-impact mass spectroscopy), were employed to test for fullerenes in samples from three different localities: two sites containing putative fullerenes (Sudbury Basin and Russian Karelia) and one new location (Oklo, Gabon). We confirm the presence of fullerenes (C₆₀ and C₇₀) in the Black Tuff of the Onaping Formation impact breccia in the Sudbury Basin, but we find no evidence of fullerenes in shungite samples from various locations in Russian Karelia. Analysis of carbonaceous substances associated with the natural nuclear fission reactors of Oklo yields no definitive signals for fullerenes. If fullerenes were produced during sustained nuclear fission at Oklo, then they are present below the detection limit (100 fmol), or they have destabilized since formation. Contrary to some expectations, geologic occurrences of fullerenes are not commonplace.

Key Words: fullerenes • geologic materials • Oklo • Karelia • Sudbury

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. V. Gopee, D. W. Roberts, P. Webb, C. R. Cozart, P. H. Siitonen, J. R. Latendresse, A. R. Warbitton, W. W. Yu, V. L. Colvin, N. J. Walker, et al. Quantitative Determination of Skin Penetration of PEG-Coated CdSe Quantum Dots in Dermabraded but not Intact SKH-1 Hairless Mouse Skin Toxicol. Sci., September 1, 2009; 111(1): 37 - 48. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. J. Mossman, F. Gauthier-Lafaye, A. Dutkiewicz, and R. Bruning Carbonaceous substances in Oklo reactors--Analogue for permanent deep geologic disposal of anthropogenic nuclear waste Reviews in Engineering Geology, January 1, 2008; 19(0): 1 - 13. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Mossman REPLY Geology, June 1, 2003; 31(6): e33 - e33. [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Parthasarathy and M. Vairamani Testing for fullerenes in geologic materials: Oklo carbonaceous substances, Karelian shungites, Sudbury Black Tuff: Comment and Reply: COMMENT Geology, January 1, 2003; 31(1): e32 - e33. [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Mossman Testing for fullerenes in geologic materials: Oklo carbonaceous substances, Karelian shungites, Sudbury Black Tuff: Comment and Reply: REPLY Geology, January 1, 2003; 31(1): e33 - e33. [Full Text] [PDF]