In reply to Jones Beene's message of Sun, 23 Apr 2006 16:06:01 -0700: Hi, >Speaking of the Ocean - not necessarily the Dirac sea, nor the >depth of the imagination - there is the oft-mentioned "Special-K >deficit"... and we're not talking breakfast either. > >Potassium (K) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth's >crust (2.4% by mass) but only 40 ppm in the ocean - despite its >solubility. Lets see: 40 compared to 24,000 is rather glaring (of >course that is a hyperbolic misuse of statistics - but it helps to >make the point). [snip] A "back of the envelope" calculation reveals that the number of Argon atoms in the atmosphere is very close to the number of Potassium atoms in the sea, suggesting a possible balance between them (where each is continually being converted into the other).
A simplistic explanation is that much Ar40 may actually be K39 with a "chemically" bound hydrinohydride attached. The bond strength would be at most 70 eV, allowing for slow but regular exchange. As "Argon" it is chemically inert, and hence gaseous, while without the hydrinohydride, it reverts to true Potassium and once again becomes an ion ending up back in the water. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://users.bigpond.net.au/rvanspaa/ Competition provides the motivation, Cooperation provides the means.
