ABSTRACT

The isotopic ratios of nickel in a shelf reagent, a dunite and three meteoritic irons were measured. Ni(CO)₄ was synthesized from samples and introduced into a mass spectrometer in gaseous form. All the precisions of the isotopic ratio measurements were within one percent which was better than those of previous studies by furnace methods. The relative abundance of ⁶⁴Ni was lower than that given by WHITE and CAMERON by 20%. There was no significant difference in the isotopic ratios of ⁶⁰Ni/⁵⁸Ni, ⁶¹Ni/⁵⁸Ni, ⁶²Ni/⁵⁸Ni and ⁶⁴Ni/⁵⁸Ni between samples analyzed. The present method needs further improvements to remove troubles caused by the decomposition of Ni(CO)₄ in the ion source of the mass spectrometer.