Uranium series disequilibrium in a Holocene uranium deposit in northeastern Washington
A recently discovered ore-grade accumulation of uranium in post-glacial, organic-rich sediments provides an opportunity for studying the early association of uranium and organic matter in a natural setting. The uranium occurs in valley-fill sediments of peat, peaty clay, silt, and sand along the north fork of Flodelle Creek, Stevens County, Washington. Sixteen lithologically distinct intervals in a 290 cm core were measured by high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry and by thin-source alpha spectrometry to determine the abundance and distribution of uranium series nuclides and the extent of secular equilibrium within the uranium decay series. Samples taken above the 6700 to 7000 year old Mazama Ash (0-127 cm depth) are clearly most deficient in daughters, but a simple increase of daughters relative to uranium as a function of depth was not observed, probably because chemically diverse daughters that are decay-generated in situ have differing mobilities, and because upwelling ground waters continuously add more uranium and minor amounts of daughters. Measured alpha activity ratios of /sup 234/U//sup 238/U (1.31-1.38) are analytically indistinguishable from those measured in coexisting waters, suggesting a rather constant isotopic composition of introduced uranium and little preferential recoil of /sup 234/U daughter from sediment surfaces. A consistent excess of /sup 210/Pb relative to /sup 226/Ra is observed throughout the core, suggesting ground-water input of the highly mobile intervening daughter, /sup 222/Rn. The abundance of uranium (160-3300 ppm) correlates highly with the abundance of organic matter (3-60 wt.%) as do abundances of /sup 226/Ra, /sup 230/Th, and /sup 210/Pb below 127 cm depth.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5873965
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8510489-
- Journal Information:
- Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28-31 Oct 1985
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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