Alpha decay helium produced on Earth is the result of the alpha decay of underground deposits of minerals containing uranium or thorium. The helium is brought to the surface as a by-product of natural gas production. Alpha particles were first described in the investigations of radioactivity by Ernest Rutherford in 1899, and by 1907 they were identified as He ions. By 1928, George Gamow had solved the theory of alpha decay via tunneling. The alpha particle is trapped in a potential well by the nucleus. Classically, it is forbidden to escape, but according to the (then) newly discovered principles of quantum mechanics,
Nitrogen-15 tracing be a bias by changing natural nitrogen transformations. In agricultural soil, however, application of N enriched tracers, such as ammonium and nitrate, resembles conventional fertilisation practise. A way to calculate nitrogen transformation rates in soil can be achieved by numerical approximation that takes different, simultaneous nitrogen transformations into account. A numerical tool to study the nitrogen cycle is the N model based on a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation. Nitrogen-15 tracing Nitrogen-15 (N) tracing is a technique to study the nitrogen cycle using the heavier, stable nitrogen isotope N. Despite the different weights, N is involved in the same chemical