Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T09:21:19.897Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

234U/230TH Ratio as an Indicator of Redox State, and U, TH, and RA Behavior in Briney Aquifers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

J. C. Laul ,
M. R. Smith  and
N. Hubbard
J. C. Laul
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA
M. R. Smith
Affiliation:
Pacific Northwest Laboratory, P.O. Box 999, Richland, WA 99352 USA
N. Hubbard
Affiliation:
Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, OH 43201 USA
Get access

Abstract

The 234U/230Th ratio serves as an in-situ indicator of the redox state in groundwater aquifers. The higher this ratio, the more U there is in the +6 valance state and thus a less reducing environment. Radium sorption is retarded in the shallow aquifer and is dependent on the CaSO4 content and the redox state. Relative to Ra, U and Th are highly sorbed. The total retardation factor for Th is ∼1400 and mean sorption time for 228Th is ∼10 days in the shallow zone. The desorption rate of Ra is significantly slower in the shallow than in the deep aquifer. There is no effect of colloids in brines.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 50: Symposium STOCKHOLM – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management IX , 1985 , 673
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Hubbard, N., Laul, J. C., and Perkins, R. W., “The Use of Natural Radionuclides to Predict the Behavior of Radwaste Radionuclides in Far-Field Aquifers”, Scientific Basis for Radioactive Waste Management VII, Mat, Res. Soc. Smp. Proc., Vol.26, 891–897, (1984).Google Scholar
2. Laul, C., Smith, M. R. and Hubbard, N., “Behavior of Natural Uranium, Thorium and Radium Isotopes in the Wolfcamp Brine Aquifers, Palo Duro Basin, Texas”, Scientific Basis for Radioactive Waste Management VII, Mat. Res. Soc. Stop. Proc., Vol.44 475–482, (1985).Google Scholar
3. Laul, J. C., Smith, M. R., Thomas, C. W., Jackson, P. O. and Hubbard, N., “Analysis of Natural Radionuclides from Uranium and Thorium Series in Briney Groundwaters”, J. of Radioanalytical Chemistry, in press, (1985).Google Scholar
4. Silker, W. B., “Collection and Analysis of Radionuclides in Seawater”, in Advances in Chemistry Series, American Chemical Society, No. 147, 1633–1675, (1982).Google Scholar
5. Grindler, J. E., “The Radiochemistry of Uranium”, Nuclear Science Series, NAS-NS, 3050, (1960).Google Scholar
6. Hyde, E. K., “The Radiochemistry of Thoriumn”, Nuclear Science Series NAS-NS, 3004, (1960).Google Scholar
7. Asikainen, M., “State of Disequilibrium Between 238U, 234U, 226Ra, and 222Rn in Groundwater from Bedrock,” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 48, 201–206 (1981).Google Scholar
8. King, P. T., Michel, J. and moore, W. S., “Groundwater Geochemistry of 228Ra, 226Ra and 222Rn, ” Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 46, 1173–1182 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar