Abstract
In the NW of Chihuahua City, Mexico, San Marcos range formation is located. San Marcos area includes two uranium mineral outcrops, a river and its dam, which are the main water supply for the nearest agricultural lands. Assessing fractionation and distribution of U and Th isotopes contained in colloidal and dis-solved fractions of surface water is the aim of this work. U and Th isotopes’ activities were obtained by alpha spectrometry. 238U and 232Th contents in colloids ranged from 5 to 16, and from 0.3 to 0.5 mBq·g−1, respectively, with activity ratio (AR, 238U/234U) of up 6. The U distribution coefficient (kdU) ranged from 1·103 to 7·103 L·g−1. The results have shown a possible lixiviation of uranium from geo-logical substrate into the surface water and an important fractionation of uranium and thorium.
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Ortiz-Caballero, Z.K., Covarrubias-Muñoz, A., Montero-Cabrera, M.E., Rentería-Villalobos, M. (2015). Distribution of Uranium and Thorium Isotopes in Colloidal and Dissolved Fraction of Water from San Marcos Dam, Chihuahua, Mexico. In: Merkel, B., Arab, A. (eds) Uranium - Past and Future Challenges. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11059-2_72
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11059-2_72
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