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Distribution and sources of 226Ra in groundwater of arid region

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Abstract

As a part of characterizing radioactivity in groundwater of the eastern Arabian Peninsula, a first systematic evaluation of 226Ra activity in groundwater indicates a wide range (0.65–203.66 mBq L−1) with average of 17.56 mBq L−1. Adsorption/desorption process, groundwater residence time and uranium concentration are the main controlling factors of 226Ra distribution in groundwater of the different aquifers. Estimation of 226Ra effective dose from water ingestion suggests potential risk of drinking water from the carbonate aquifer.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation funded project (2014M562478), the United Arab Emirates University (UPAR31S114), the program of Dual Innovative Talents Plan and Innovative Research Team in Jiangsu Province, and the Special Fund of State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering (Grant No. 20145027312).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

    M. J. Zheng, X. D. Zhou, P. Yi & Z. B. Yu

  2. Department of Geology, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

    A. Murad, D. Alshamsi, S. Hussein & A. Aldahan

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China

    X. D. Zhou, P. Yi, L. Chen & Z. B. Yu

  4. Division of Hydrologic Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, NV, 89119, USA

    L. Chen

  5. Center for Nuclear Technologies, Technical University of Denmark, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    X. L. Hou

  6. Xi’an AMS Centre and SKLLQG Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi’an, 710075, China

    X. L. Hou

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  1. M. J. Zheng
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Correspondence to P. Yi.

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Zheng, M.J., Murad, A., Zhou, X.D. et al. Distribution and sources of 226Ra in groundwater of arid region. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 309, 667–675 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-015-4632-1

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