Disequilibrium study of natural radionuclides of uranium and thorium series in cores and briny groundwaters from Palo Duro Basin, Texas

Technical Report · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:6972068

Laul, J C; Smith, M R

The concentrations of natural radionuclides of the /sup 238/U and /232/Th series are reported in several cores and in ten deep and five shallow briny groundwaters from various formations in the Palo Duro Basin. The formations include Granite Wash, Pennsylvanian Granite Wash, Wolfcamp Carbonate, Pennsylvanian Carbonate, Seven River, Queen Grayburg, San Andres, Yates and Salado. The natural radionuclide data in cores suggest that the radionuclides have not migrated or been leached for at least a period of about 1 million years. Relative to the U and Th concentrations in cores, the brines are depleted by a factor of 10/sup 4/ to 10/sup 5/, indicating extremely low solubility of U and Th in brines. The natural radionuclide data in brines suggest that radium is not sorbed significantly and thus not retarded in nine deep brines. Radium is somewhat sorbed in one deep brine of Wolfcamp Carbonate and significantly sorbed in shallow brines. Relative to radium, the U, Th, Pb, Bi, and Po radionuclides are highly retarded by sorption. The retardation factors for /sup 228/Th range from 10/sup 2/ to 10/sup 3/, whereas those for /sup 230/Th and /sup 234/U range from 10/sup 3/ to 10/sup 5/, depending on the formation. The /sup 234/U//sup 238/U ratios in these brines are constant at about 1.5. The magnitude of the /sup 234/U//sup 230/Th ratio appears to reflect the degree of redox state of the aquifer's environment. The /sup 234/U//sup 230/Th ratio in nine deep brines is about unity, suggesting that U, like Th/sup +4/, is in the +4 state, which in turn suggests a reduced environment. 49 refs., 23 figs., 18 tabs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6972068
• Report Number(s): PNL/SRP-5783; ON: DE89000268
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BACKGROUND RADIATION
BRINES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DRILL CORES
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GROUND WATER
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PALO DURO BASIN
PERMIAN BASIN
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
SALT DEPOSITS
SORPTIVE PROPERTIES
SURFACE PROPERTIES
THORIUM 230
THORIUM ISOTOPES
URANIUM 234
URANIUM 238
URANIUM ISOTOPES
WATER
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES