Distribution of /sup 226/Ra in the lower paleozoic aquifers of southeast Kansas and adjacent areas

Conference · Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 1981 · Trace Subst. Environ. Health; (United States)

OSTI ID:6240893

Macfarlane, P A

Prior routine monitoring of public water supplies by health agencies in the Tri-State Region of Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri revealed several areas where water samples from wells finished in the Cambro-Ordovician exceeded the maximum contaminant levels set by USEPA for radium /sup 226/Ra. The purpose of this study was to determine the region-wide distribution pattern and geochemistry of this radionuclide. /sup 226/Ra activities were found to vary from 0.5 to 11 pCi/l (1 pCi = 10/sup -12/ g) and were highest along the eastern margin of the transition from fresh to saline water; /sup 226/Ra activities are highly correlated with specific conductance and the presence of hydrogen sulfide (H/sub 2/S). Along 2 traverses through the region uranium (U) concentration decreases by an order of magnitude while the /sup 226/Ra//sup 234/U activity ratio (AR) increases by an order of magnitude or more where H/sub 2/S is present. The /sup 234/U//sup 238/U AR is uniformly high along both traverses. /sup 226/Ra is likely generated by the decay of /sup 238/U precipitated from westward flowing groundwaters from the recharge area and is mixed with radium-bearing, low-sulfate connate waters west of the transition zone.

• Research Organization: Kansas Geological Survey, Lawrence
• OSTI ID: 6240893
• Report Number(s): CONF-8106251-
• Journal Information: Trace Subst. Environ. Health; (United States), Vol. 15; Conference: 15. annual conference on trace substances in environmental health, Columbia, MO, USA, 1 Jun 1981
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
AQUIFERS
RADIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIUM 226
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
GEOCHEMISTRY
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
KANSAS
MAXIMUM ACCEPTABLE CONTAMINATION
MISSOURI
OKLAHOMA
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
URANIUM 238
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMISTRY
CONTAMINATION REGULATIONS
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION VI
FEDERAL REGION VII
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIUM ISOTOPES
REGULATIONS
SAFETY STANDARDS
STANDARDS
SULFIDES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
URANIUM ISOTOPES
USA
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
520301* - Environment
Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- Water- (1987)
552000 - Public Health