Determination of thorium isotopes in seawater by nondestructive and radiochemical procedures

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Abstract

Procedures have been developed for the analyses of dissolved and particulate 234Th, 228Th, 230Th and 232Th in seawater. Large volume samples (>1000 1) are collected using in situ pumps. Seawater is pumped sequentially through a filter cartridge and two MnO2 adsorbers for the collection of particulate and dissolved Th, respectively. Both filters adsorbers are analysed for 234Th using a simple gamma counting technique. This newly developed 234Th procedure can be conducted at sea, and thus provides an easy and efficient method for 234Th analyses on large volume samples. Subsequent radiochemical purification procedures and low-level alpha counting techniques are used in the laboratory for the analyses of 228Th, 230Th and 232Th on these same samples.

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      Citation Excerpt :

      For the calibration of the RaDeCC efficiencies for the MnO2 cartridges, the absolute activity (dpm) per sample is needed. After the initial RaDeCC counting was completed, the cartridges were ashed at 820 °C followed by acid leaching using 8 N HNO3 and wet chemistry separation (Buesseler et al., 1992). Briefly a known amount of 230Th spike was added to each sample for estimating sample recoveries and the same chemical purification and alpha counting method for the particulate samples outlined above was followed.

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