Distribution of Helium-3 in the Carbo Meteorite

Abstract

To make it possible to measure the distribution of helium-3 in the Carbo meteorite, found in Mexico in 1923, Prof. C. Frondel kindly gave permission for the thousand-pound specimen, which is the property of the Harvard Museum, to be cut. The sawing was done at the Watertown Arsenal, Watertown, Mass. A slice, 0.5 in. thick, having an area of about 300 in.², was cut from the centre of the meteorite. Fig. 1 shows a drawing of the slice and of the cross-section of three pieces that had previously been cut from the bottom and now reside in museums. The slice was sectioned into bars, 0.25 in. wide. The helium-3 content was measured in 1-gm. samples taken from the bars at points indicated by the crosses. The bars are shown by fine lines. The bars adjacent to those we sampled were sent to other experimenters.