Uranium In Granite

Uranium levels vary in different areas of the world and are higher where the underlying rock is predominantly granite.

Uranium in granite.

These melts tend to become highly enriched in uranium thorium and potassium and may in turn create internal pegmatites or hydrothermal systems into which uranium may dissolve. It is surprisingly easy. If present uranium thorium or radium will decay into radon a colorless odorless radioactive gas that may cause lung cancer. Granite like any other stone may contain veins of naturally occurring radioactive elements like uranium thorium and their radioactive decay products.

In 100 tons of average granite there are 14 ounces of uranium and about two pounds of thorium. These elements can emit radiation and produce radon gas a source of alpha and beta particles and gamma rays see www epa gov radiation radiation terms and units. In this study the long term mobility of natural uranium in the kaeri underground research tunnel kurt site was investigated using sequential chemical extraction and isotopic analyses of natural uranium in granite. It was found that uranium vi would be leached out due to preferential leaching of 234u relative 238u and concentrated by an uraniferous enrichment process through long term.

The principal ore mineral is uranothorite which occurs in veinlets in granite. Is it possible to unlock this energy from the rock. Uranium can be found in soils and waters due to the breakdown weathering of rocks containing it. Uranium is an incompatible element within magmas and as such it tends to become accumulated within highly fractionated and evolved granite melts particularly alkaline examples.

However in some instances tests have found that granite countertops give off potentially dangerous levels of radiation. The deposit is at bokan mountain on prince of wales island. Good specimens of uranium minerals are found in the final stage of granite solidification the veins of large crystals and unusual minerals called pegmatites. Uranium breaks down decays very slowly into radium and radon gas.

There may be found cubic crystals of uraninite black crusts of pitchblende and plates of uranium phosphate minerals such as torbernite cu uo 2 po 4 2 8 12h 2 o. Silver vanadium and arsenic minerals are also common where uranium is found. Some granite and other natural stones contains trace amounts of uranium. Uranium is also released into the environment from various activities such as mining and combustion from coal and other fuels.

These radioactive elements are equal in energy to the power obtained from 5000 tons of coal. Uranium was discovered at the ross adams deposit in 1955 by an airborne gamma radiation survey. Once it is in the soil and water it can be taken up by plants and consumed by people or grazing animals or it can dissolve in the water to be consumed by any organism.