A STUDY OF SOME FACTORS INVOLVED IN THE DISPOSAL OF RADIOACTIVE WASTES AT SEA. PART I. GENERAL PROJECT INFORMATION. PART II. PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND SEDIMENTOLOGY. PART III. MARINE BIOLOGY. PART IV. CLAY MINERALOGY. PART V. PHYSICO-CHEMICAL CONSIDERATIONS. Annual report
The Mississippi River in the vicinity of the South and Southwest Pass and the adjacent water of the Gulf of Mexico were investigated. The gross categories into which the investigation was divided include physical, physico- chemical, and biological aspects. Field operations, including sampling cruises, are briefly described in the first part as well as personnel qualifications and disposal conferences attended. As a starting point in the evaluation of physieal factors involved, data were obtained from U. S. Corps of Engineers. The physical and sedimentary environment of the west Mississippi Delta area may be divided into three sub-environments such as the fresh water regime within the river channel influenced principally by river discharge and tides, the fresh-saline water regime in the vicinity of the mouth of rs, and th saline water regime of the open Gulf influenced by the prevailing winds and currents. In view of the importance of clay minerals in the process or chemosorption with respect to radioactive materials, their distribution in the bottom deposits of the western Mississippi Delta area was investigated. The most abundant clay mineral in the area is montmorillonite which makes up about 50% of the clay mineral suite. Illite and kaolinite compose about 25% each. The abundance of montmorillonite is significsnt since it has the greatest number of exchangeable postions and the greatest capacity for adsorbing organic complexes. The physico-chemical charsteristics or the clays and other suspended materials in the water include exchange capacity and adsorption and the differential flocculation potential of the various clay minerals. The suspended sediment load in the lower Mississippi River, which consists of an appreciable amount of clay minerals is of such a magnitude that the accumulation of radioactive ions may be appreciable. The salinity of the water and the extent of the salt water wedge in the river as well as the extent of the turbid mass in the Gulf of Mexico must be considered in the problem of localization of any radioactive contamination. The exchange capacity of the clays are effected by the organic material present. In the marine environment there appears to be a blocking effect which is not readily observed in the river environment. The organic material which is in turn adsorbed on clays is capable of complexing ions and thus accomplish chemical scavenging. An evaluation of the biological accumulation, a study of the copepod fauna, was undertaken in the Mississippi Delta region in 1956. Samples were collected in the spring, sumnmer, fall, and early winter. The work was conducted mainly from off the South Pass to about 30 miles offshore. The pattern of distribution of the number of species seems to be associated with the salinity conditions of the area, for in the fall and winter when the salinities increased near the delta many offshore and oceanic species advanced into the region. The seasonal abundance of the copepods varied from rich in the summer to poor in the winter; in the fall they appeared to be more abundant and more varied than in the spring. (For preceding period see ORO-185.) (J.R.D.)
- Research Organization:
- Texas. Agricultural and Mechanical Coll., College Station
- DOE Contract Number:
- AT(40-1)-2061
- NSA Number:
- NSA-13-009349
- OSTI ID:
- 4291501
- Report Number(s):
- ORO-186(Pts. I-V)
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Project 142; These five parts were issued in three books# but are cataloged as a unit. Orig. Receipt Date: 31-DEC-59
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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