Radium, thorium and radioactive lead isotopes in groundwaters: application to the in situ determination of adsorption-desorption rate constants and retardation factors

Journal Article · Wed Dec 01 00:00:00 EST 1982 · Water Resour. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/WR018i006p01663· OSTI ID:5534359

Krishnaswami, S; Graustein, W C; Turekian, K K; Dowd, J F

Five groundwater samples taken from different hydrogeologic settings in Connecticut were analyzed for major cation chemistry and the concentration of U and Th decay series nuclides /sup 238/U, /sup 234/Th, /sup 226/Ra, /sup 222/Rn, /sup 210/Pb, /sup 210/Po, /sup 232/Th, /sup 228/Th, and /sup 224/Ra. The concentration of /sup 222/Rn in the waters ranged between 10/sup 3/ and 10/sup 4/ dpm l/sup -1/ and was three to four orders of magnitude greater than that of the short-lived alpha daughters /sup 224/Ra, /sup 228/Ra, and /sup 234/Th, even though the rates of supply of these four nuclides to solution are expected to be similar. We infer that sorption removes radium and thorium from these groundwaters on a time scale of 3 minutes or less. The (/sup 224/Ra//sup 228/Ra) and (/sup 234/Th//sup 228/Th) activity ratios in these waters indicate that desorption of these nuclides occurs on a time scale of a week or less and that equilibrium between solution and surface phases is established. In situ retardation factors for radium, thorium, and lead may therefore be caluculated directly from the isotopic data; values range from 4,500 to 200,000. Neither sorption time scales nor retardation factors are strongly dependent on the nuclide or on hydrogeology of the aquifer. Since our study includes nuclides with diverse chemical properties, we suggest that other uncomplexed heavy metals and transuranic elements will also behave in a manner similar to those measured here. The approach presented here should therefore find application in developing site-specific models of the transport of radioactive or stable elemental waste through water-saturated media.

• Research Organization: Yale Univ., New Haven, CT
• OSTI ID: 5534359
• Journal Information: Water Resour. Res.; (United States), Vol. 18:6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
GROUND WATER
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
LEAD 210
POLONIUM 210
RADIUM 224
RADIUM 226
RADON 222
THORIUM 228
THORIUM 232
THORIUM 234
URANIUM 238
ADSORPTION
CATIONS
CHEMICAL REACTION KINETICS
CHEMISORPTION
CONNECTICUT
DESORPTION
FIELD TESTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RADIOACTIVITY
SAMPLING
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
WATER CHEMISTRY
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CHEMISTRY
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION I
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
IONS
ISOTOPES
KINETICS
LEAD ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
REACTION KINETICS
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SORPTION
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TESTING
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM ISOTOPES
USA
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
520301* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Water- (1987)