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Uranium in Phosphorites

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Abstract

The uranium concentration in phosphorites on continents and modern seafloor varies from 0.nto n· 102ppm (average 75 ppm). The average uranium concentration is 4–48 ppm in Precambrian and Cambrian deposits, 20–90 ppm in Paleozoic and Jurassic deposits, 40–130 ppm in Late Cretaceous–Paleogene deposits, 30–130 ppm in Neogene deposits, and 30–110 ppm in Quaternary (including Holocene) deposits. On the whole, the variation range is almost similar for phosphorites of different ages. The U/P2O5ratio in phosphorites ranges from less than unity to 24 · 10–4(average 3.2 · 10–4). Major phosphorite deposits of the world with ore reserves of approximately 250 Gt (or 58 Gt P2O5) contain up to 19 Mt of uranium. Uranium is present in phosphorites in the tetra- and hexavalent, i.e., U(IV) and U(VI) forms, and their ratio is highly variable. At the early diagenetic stage of the formation of marine phosphorites in a reductive environment, U(VI) diffuses from the near-bottom water into sediments. It is consequently reduced and precipitated as submicroscopic segregations of uranium minerals (mainly uraninite) that are probably absorbed by phosphatic material. During the subsequent reaction between phosphorites and aerated water and the weathering in a subaerial environment, uranium is partly oxidized and lost. The uranium depletion also occurs during catagenesis owing to a more complete crystallization of calcium phosphate and replacement of nonphosphatic components.

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  1. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology (SIO), Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovskii pr. 36, Moscow, 117851, Russia

    G. N. Baturin

  2. Fedorovskii All-Russia Research Institute of Mineral Resources (VIMS), Staromonetnyi per. 29, Moscow, 109017, Russia

    A. V. Kochenov

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Baturin, G.N., Kochenov, A.V. Uranium in Phosphorites. Lithology and Mineral Resources 36, 303–321 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010406103447

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