Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters
International audience In this paper we report and compare the concentrations of 234 Th and 238 U measured in surface and subsurface waters collected in the course of a sampling campaign in the north east Atlantic in June-July 1998. Dissolved 234 Th concentrations in surface waters ranged from 5 to...
Published in: | Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |
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ftinstitutrsn:oai:HAL:hal-02433546v1 2023-05-15T17:38:21+02:00 Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters Smith, K. J. León Vintró, L. Mitchell, P. I. Bally Du Bois, P. Boust, D. University College Dublin Dublin (UCD) Laboratoire de Radioécologie de Cherbourg-Octeville (IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE/LRC) Service de recherche sur les transferts et les effets des radionucléides sur les écosystèmes (IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE) Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN)-Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) 2004 https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 en eng HAL CCSD Elsevier info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 hal-02433546 https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 ISSN: 0265-931X EISSN: 1879-1700 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2004, 74 (1-3), pp.199 - 210. ⟨10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006⟩ Uranium Thorium Disequilibrium Scavenging Residence times Colloids Ultrafiltration [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDE]Environmental Sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2004 ftinstitutrsn https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 2023-04-11T22:36:22Z International audience In this paper we report and compare the concentrations of 234 Th and 238 U measured in surface and subsurface waters collected in the course of a sampling campaign in the north east Atlantic in June-July 1998. Dissolved 234 Th concentrations in surface waters ranged from 5 to 20 Bq m-3 , showing a large deficiency relative to 238 U concentrations (typically 42 Bq m-3). This disequilibrium is indicative of active 234 Th scavenging from surface waters. Observed 234 Th/ 238 U activity ratios, together with corresponding 234 Th particulate concentrations , were used to calculate mean residence times for 234 Th with respect to scavenging onto particles (s diss) and subsequent removal from surface waters (s part). Residence times in the range 5-30 days were determined for s diss and 4-18 days for s part (n ¼ 14). In addition, ultrafiltration experiments at six stations in the course of the same expedition revealed that in northeast Atlantic surface waters a significant fraction (46 AE 17%; n ¼ 6) of the thorium in the (operationally-defined) dissolved phase (<0.45 lm) is in colloidal form. These observations are consistent with the 'colloidal pumping' model in which it is assumed that 234 Th is rapidly absorbed by colloidal particles, which then aggregate, albeit at a slower rate, into larger filterable particles. In essence, colloids act as intermediaries in the transition from the fully dissolved to the filter-retained (>0.45 lm) phase. Thus, the time (s c) for fully dissolved 234 Th to appear in the filter-retained fraction is dependent on the rate of colloidal aggregation. Here, we determined s c values in the range 3-17 days. # Article in Journal/Newspaper North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire): Publications (HAL Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 74 1-3 199 210 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire): Publications (HAL |
op_collection_id |
ftinstitutrsn |
language |
English |
topic |
Uranium Thorium Disequilibrium Scavenging Residence times Colloids Ultrafiltration [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Uranium Thorium Disequilibrium Scavenging Residence times Colloids Ultrafiltration [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDE]Environmental Sciences Smith, K. J. León Vintró, L. Mitchell, P. I. Bally Du Bois, P. Boust, D. Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
topic_facet |
Uranium Thorium Disequilibrium Scavenging Residence times Colloids Ultrafiltration [SDU.OCEAN]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Ocean Atmosphere [SDE]Environmental Sciences |
description |
International audience In this paper we report and compare the concentrations of 234 Th and 238 U measured in surface and subsurface waters collected in the course of a sampling campaign in the north east Atlantic in June-July 1998. Dissolved 234 Th concentrations in surface waters ranged from 5 to 20 Bq m-3 , showing a large deficiency relative to 238 U concentrations (typically 42 Bq m-3). This disequilibrium is indicative of active 234 Th scavenging from surface waters. Observed 234 Th/ 238 U activity ratios, together with corresponding 234 Th particulate concentrations , were used to calculate mean residence times for 234 Th with respect to scavenging onto particles (s diss) and subsequent removal from surface waters (s part). Residence times in the range 5-30 days were determined for s diss and 4-18 days for s part (n ¼ 14). In addition, ultrafiltration experiments at six stations in the course of the same expedition revealed that in northeast Atlantic surface waters a significant fraction (46 AE 17%; n ¼ 6) of the thorium in the (operationally-defined) dissolved phase (<0.45 lm) is in colloidal form. These observations are consistent with the 'colloidal pumping' model in which it is assumed that 234 Th is rapidly absorbed by colloidal particles, which then aggregate, albeit at a slower rate, into larger filterable particles. In essence, colloids act as intermediaries in the transition from the fully dissolved to the filter-retained (>0.45 lm) phase. Thus, the time (s c) for fully dissolved 234 Th to appear in the filter-retained fraction is dependent on the rate of colloidal aggregation. Here, we determined s c values in the range 3-17 days. # |
author2 |
University College Dublin Dublin (UCD) Laboratoire de Radioécologie de Cherbourg-Octeville (IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE/LRC) Service de recherche sur les transferts et les effets des radionucléides sur les écosystèmes (IRSN/PSE-ENV/SRTE) Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN)-Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, K. J. León Vintró, L. Mitchell, P. I. Bally Du Bois, P. Boust, D. |
author_facet |
Smith, K. J. León Vintró, L. Mitchell, P. I. Bally Du Bois, P. Boust, D. |
author_sort |
Smith, K. J. |
title |
Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
title_short |
Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
title_full |
Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
title_fullStr |
Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east Atlantic waters |
title_sort |
uranium-thorium disequilibrium in north-east atlantic waters |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 |
genre |
North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North East Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
ISSN: 0265-931X EISSN: 1879-1700 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 2004, 74 (1-3), pp.199 - 210. ⟨10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 hal-02433546 https://hal-normandie-univ.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02433546 doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2004.01.006 |
container_title |
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity |
container_volume |
74 |
container_issue |
1-3 |
container_start_page |
199 |
op_container_end_page |
210 |
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1766138767480979456 |