2015 GSA Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA (1-4 November 2015)

Paper No. 122-4
Presentation Time: 9:00 AM-6:30 PM

DETAILED CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF URANINITE: FORENSIC APPLICATIONS


BALBONI, Enrica, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, SIMONETTI, Antonio, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 105A Cushing Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, JONES, Nina, Dept. Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, SPANO, Tyler L., Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 301 Stinson Remick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, DORAIS, Corinne, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, BURNS, Peter C., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, 156 Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556 and HIXON, Amy E., University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, ebalboni@nd.edu

Uranium ores occur in a wide variety of geological settings, including high temperature magmatic, metamorphic, and low-temperature sedimentary deposits. UO2, the most essential raw material for nuclear fuel preparation, can incorporate variable quantities of trace elements during crystallization, thus its chemical signature will reflect the environment of formation. Samples of UO2 investigated here were selected from “The Rod Ewing mineral collection” housed at the University of Notre Dame. In this work, micro-X-ray fluorescence, electron microprobe, and laser ablation- inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) analyses were carried out on individual uraninite grains from various localities within North America; these include samples from North Carolina, New Hampshire, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, and New Mexico. Detailed chemical characterization (major, minor, and trace elements) of uraninite sampleswere conducted in relation to nuclear forensics applications. Of particular interest are the rare earth element (REE) abundances of uranium oxide due to their low sensitivity to redox changes, and their relative ease of substitution for uranium because of similar ionic radii.