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Periodic Table--Manganese

Manganese is part of the iron group of elements which are thought to be synthesized in large stars shortly before supernova explosion. Manganese-53 decays to 53Cr with a half-life of 3.7 Myr. Because of its relatively short half-life, 53Mn is an extinct radionuclide. Manganese isotopic contents are typically combined with chromium isotopic contents and have found application in isotope geology.

Mn-Cr isotopic ratios reinforce the evidence from 26Al and 107Pd for the early history of the solar system. Variations in 53Cr/52Cr and Mn/Cr ratios from several meteorites indicate an initial 53Mn/55Mn ratio that suggests Mn-Cr isotopic systematics must result from in-situ decay of 53Mn in differentiated planetary bodies (Birck and Allegre, 1985, 1988). Hence 53Mn provides additional evidence for nucleosynthetic processes immediately before coalescence of the solar system.

Source of text: This review was assembled by Eric Caldwell, primarily from Dicken (1995).

References
Birck, J.L. and Allegre, C.J. (1985). "Evidence for the presence of 53Mn in the early solar system." Geophys. Res. Lett., 12: 745-748.
Birck, J.L. and Allegre, C.J. (1988). "Manganese-chromium isotope systematics and the development of the early solar-system." Nature, 351: 579-584.
Dicken, A.P. (1995). Radiogenic Isotope Geology. Cambridge University Press, New York, 452 pp.
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Periodic Table
Fundamentals of Stable Isotope Geochemistry
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