Uranium remobilisation in anoxic deep rock-groundwater system in response to late Quaternary climate changes - Results from Forsmark, SwedenShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Chemical Geology, ISSN 0009-2541, E-ISSN 1872-6836, Vol. 584, article id 120551Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Unusually high uranium (U) concentrations (up to 175 mu g/L) have been measured in groundwater at depths between 400 and 650 m at the Forsmark site, eastern Sweden. Since it is unlikely that such high concentrations formed under the stagnant and low redox groundwater conditions that currently prevail, this study employs Useries isotopes to understand how the recent evolution (<1 Ma) of the flow system has influenced the observed U distribution. Material from fractures as deep as 700 m along the assumed flow route was subject to U-series disequilibrium (USD) measurements, as well as sequential extractions (SE) and U redox-state analyses that revealed the U-series activity ratios in the bulk and soluble fraction of the fracture precipitates. Uranium isotope data collected over several years of annual groundwater monitoring were scrutinized to evaluate the U sources and U exchange in fractures located in high-U groundwater sections. Numerical simulations with the experimental data were used to study evolution of U-series isotope composition in a fracture in the highest U section at similar to 500 m depth under various U mobility scenarios. The results show that U redistribution in fractures with certain dissolution/deposition flux ratios during periodic water intrusions, driven by glaciation and deglaciation events during the last 120 ka, can explain the U anomaly in the groundwater.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2021. Vol. 584, article id 120551
Keywords [en]
U mobility, U redistribution, U series modelling, Redox conditions, Groundwater, Fracture coatings, Glaciation cycles, Climate changes
National Category
Geochemistry Geology
Research subject
Natural Science
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-108307DOI: 10.1016/j.chemgeo.2021.120551ISI: 000708978100006Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85116571464Local ID: 2021OAI: oai:DiVA.org:lnu-108307DiVA, id: diva2:1615807
2021-12-012021-12-012022-02-04Bibliographically approved