The common property of isotopic anomalies in meteorites

Abstract

The treatment proposed to account for the non-mass-dependent isotopic fractionation effect observed for oxygen isotopes during the synthesis of ozone (Robert & Camy-Peyret 2001) is applied to other chemical elements. A numerical treatment to calculate isotopic reaction rate ratios is proposed. This treatment yields non-mass-dependent isotopic effects in other chemical elements, qualitatively similar to those observed in some of the high temperature minerals found in the carbonaceous meteorites. This treatment may reflect the numerical consequences of an unrecognized quantum mechanical effect, linked to a property of chemical reactions involving indistinguishable isotopes.