Abstract
IN a recent publication Patterson1 shows that the measured isotopic abundances of leads from five different meteorites and recent terrestrial ocean sediments are simply related. From this fact, following a series of convincing arguments, he deduces that all these leads have developed from a single primeval lead by the addition of radiogenic lead-206, lead-207 and lead-208, and that the additions of radiogenic lead commenced at a common time (4.55 ± 0.07) × 109 years ago. Without disputing any of these arguments, I wish to point out some interesting features of the meteoritic lead-isotope ratios which appear when they are compared with the observed ratios of these isotopes in terrestrial lead minerals.
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RUSSELL, R. Abundances of Meteoric Lead Isotopes. Nature 179, 92 (1957). https://doi.org/10.1038/179092a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/179092a0
