It is shown that a subshell effect associated with Z = 64 can be obtained with the self-consistent energy density mass formula. Such an effect is suggested by the experimental results about alpha-decay and spectroscopy, but is not found in Hartree-Fock calculations, neither with the Skyrme interaction, nor in the model of Pearson et al. The vanishing of the subshell effect when N > 86 is
... [Show full abstract] explained by the beginning of the rare-earth deformation zone.