Radionuclide movement and geochemistry in intertidal sediments in South West Scotland

Ban-Shaban, Yousef Ali (1989) Radionuclide movement and geochemistry in intertidal sediments in South West Scotland. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This thesis describes a study of the distribution and behaviour of natural and manmade radionuclides in the intertidal environment of south west Scotland. This work is particularly concerned with transport processes affecting radionuclides and with the application of radionuclides as tracers of natural environmental processes. Results are presented for study sites at Ardmore Bay in the Clyde Sea Area and Skyreburn Bay, Wigtown Martyr's Stake and Netherclifton in the Solway Firth with the radionuclides investigated being 134Cs, 137Cs, 210Pb, 238Pu, 239. 240Pu 241 Am, 238U, 232Th and 230Th. The study confirms and extends an existing model for particle associated Sellafield waste radionuclide transport to the intertidal areas of the Solway Firth and the work, moreover, establishes that the same supply mechanism operates in the floodplain, or merse, areas of the Solway Firth. Inventories of the order of 10e5, 10e4 and 10e4 Bq m -2 are derived for 137Cs, 241Am and 239,240 Pu respectively in the merse sediments, indicating inventories for these nuclides of the order of 7, 1 and 1 TBq in the total area of the merse deposits of the Solway Firth. A description is provided of a study of uranium movement through the Solway floodplain silts in the vicinity of a uranium mineralization vein and it is established that uranium migration for distances of up to 55m can be observed with continuous removal from solution during transport by uptake by iron/manganese oxides and organic materials. The removal process is characterised by a 10m halving distance. The radionuclide data are considered in the context of tracer studies of various environmental processes including large scale sediment movement in the Irish Sea, local sediment movement in particular bays and, at individual sites, mixing and accumulating processes.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by finance from the Marine Biology Research Centre, Tajura.
• Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General); Q Science > QD Chemistry; Q Science > QE Geology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering
• Supervisor's Name: MacKenzie, Dr. A.B.
• Date of Award: 1989
• Depositing User: Mrs Marie Cairney
• Unique ID: glathesis:1989-40925
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 11 Jan 2019 13:38
• Last Modified: 11 Jan 2019 13:38
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/40925