Rapid Method for Ra-226 and Ra-228 in Water Samples

The measurement of radium isotopes in natural waters is important for oceanographic studies and for public health reasons. Ra-226 (1620 year half-life) is one of the most toxic of the long-lived alpha emitters present in the environment due to its long life and its tendency to concentrate in bones, which increases the internal radiation dose of individuals. The analysis of radium-226 and radium-228 in natural waters can be tedious and time-consuming. Different sample preparation methods are often required to prepare Ra-226 and Ra-228 for separate analyses. A rapid method has been developed at the Savannah River Environmental Laboratory that effectively separates both Ra-226 and Ra-228 (via Ac-228) for assay. This method uses MnO{sub 2} Resin from Eichrom Technologies (Darien, IL, USA) to preconcentrate Ra-226 and Ra-228 rapidly from water samples, along with Ba-133 tracer. DGA Resin{reg_sign} (Eichrom) and Ln-Resin{reg_sign} (Eichrom) are employed in tandem to prepare Ra-226 for assay by alpha spectrometry and to determine Ra-228 via the measurement of Ac-228 by gas proportional counting. After preconcentration, the manganese dioxide is dissolved from the resin and passed through stacked Ln-Resin-DGA Resin cartridges that remove uranium and thorium interferences and retain Ac-228 on DGA Resin. The eluate that passed through this column is evaporated, redissolved in a lower acidity and passed through Ln-Resin again to further remove interferences before performing a barium sulfate microprecipitation. The Ac-228 is stripped from the resin, collected using cerium fluoride microprecipitation and counted by gas proportional counting. By using vacuum box cartridge technology with rapid flow rates, sample preparation time is minimized

Rapid Column Extraction Method for Actinides and Sr-89/90 in Water Samples

The SRS Environmental Laboratory analyzes water samples for environmental monitoring, including river water and ground water samples. A new, faster actinide and strontium 89/90 separation method has been developed and implemented to improve productivity, reduce labor costs and add capacity to this laboratory. This method uses stacked TEVA Resin{reg_sign}, TRU Resin{reg_sign} and Sr-Resin{reg_sign} cartridges from Eichrom Technologies (Darien, IL, USA) that allows the rapid separation of plutonium (Pu), neptunium (Np), uranium (U), americium (Am), curium (Cm) and thorium (Th) using a single multi-stage column combined with alpha spectrometry. By using vacuum box cartridge technology with rapid flow rates, sample preparation time is minimized. The method can be used for routine analysis or as a rapid method for emergency preparedness. Thorium and curium are often analyzed separately due to the interference of the daughter of Th-229 tracer, actinium (Ac)-225, on curium isotopes when measured by alpha spectrometry. This new method also adds a separation step using DGA Resin{reg_sign}, (Diglycolamide Resin, Eichrom Technologies) to remove Ac-225 and allow the separation and analysis of thorium isotopes and curium isotopes at the same time

Finding Concealed Active Faults: Extending the Southern Whidbey Island Fault across the Puget Lowland, Washington

The southern Whidbey Island fault zone (SWIF), as previously mapped using borehole data, potential field anomalies, and marine seismic reflection surveys, consists of three subparallel, northwest trending strands extending ~100 km from near Vancouver Island to the northern Puget Lowland. East of Puget Sound, the SWIF makes landfall between the cities of Seattle and Everett but is concealed beneath a thick mantle of young glacial deposits and vegetation. A ~20-km-wide, northwest trending swath of subparallel, low-amplitude aeromagnetic anomalies crosses this region of the Puget Lowland and is on strike with the SWIF. The most prominent aeromagnetic anomaly, the Cottage Lake lineament, extends at least 18 km and lies approximately on strike with the SWIF on Whidbey Island. Subtle scarps and topographic lineaments on Pleistocene surfaces, visible on high-resolution lidar topography at a number of locations along the SWIF, lie on or near these magnetic anomalies. In the field, scarps exhibit northeast-side-up and vertical relief of 1 to 5 m. Excavations across several lidar scarps lying on or near magnetic anomalies show evidence for multiple folding and faulting events since deglaciation, most likely above buried reverse/oblique faults. Excavations in areas away from magnetic anomalies do not show evidence of tectonic deformation. In total, paleoseismological evidence suggests that the SWIF produced at least four earthquakes since deglaciation about 16,400 years ago, the most recent less than 2700 years ago

Influence of the megathrust earthquake cycle on upper-plate deformation in the Cascadia forearc of Washington State, USA

The influence of subduction zone earthquake cycle processes on permanent forearc deformation is poorly understood. In the Cascadia subduction zone forearc of Washington State, USA, deformed and incised fluvial terraces serve as archives of longer-term (103–104 yr) strain manifest as both fluvial incision and slip on upper-plate faults. We focus on comparing these geomorphic records in the Wynoochee River valley in the southern Olympic Mountains with short-term (101 yr) deformation driven by interseismic subduction zone coupling. We use optically stimulated luminescence dating and high-resolution elevation data to characterize strath terrace incision and differential uplift across the Canyon River fault, which cuts Wynoochee River terraces. This analysis demonstrates reverse slip rates of ∼0.1–0.3 mm/yr over the past ∼12–37 k.y., which agree with rates predicted by a GPS-constrained boundary element model of interseismic stress from Cascadia subduction zone coupling. Similarly, model-predicted patterns of interseismic uplift mimic the overall pattern of incision in the lower Wynoochee River valley, as revealed by strath elevations dated at 14.1 ± 1.2 ka. Agreement between modeled short-term and observed long-term records of forearc strain suggests that interseismic stress drives slip on upper-plate faults and fluvial incision in Cascadia. Consistency over multiple time scales may indicate relative stability in spatial patterns of subduction zone coupling over at least ∼104 yr intervals

Rapid Determination Of Radiostrontium In Large Soil Samples

A new method for the determination of radiostrontium in large soil samples has been developed at the Savannah River Environmental Laboratory (Aiken, SC, USA) that allows rapid preconcentration and separation of strontium in large soil samples for the measurement of strontium isotopes by gas flow proportional counting. The need for rapid analyses in the event of a Radiological Dispersive Device (RDD) or Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) event is well-known. In addition, the recent accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in March, 2011 reinforces the need to have rapid analyses for radionuclides in environmental samples in the event of a nuclear accident. The method employs a novel pre-concentration step that utilizes an iron hydroxide precipitation (enhanced with calcium phosphate) followed by a final calcium fluoride precipitation to remove silicates and other matrix components. The pre-concentration steps, in combination with a rapid Sr Resin separation using vacuum box technology, allow very large soil samples to be analyzed for {sup 89,90}Sr using gas flow proportional counting with a lower method detection limit. The calcium fluoride precipitation eliminates column flow problems typically associated with large amounts of silicates in large soil samples