Browsing by Author "Sinclair, G"
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- ItemRadium and heavy metal transport beneath an abandoned uranium tailings dam(Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 1988-09) Jeffery, JJ; Sinclair, G; Lowson, RTAn abandoned uranium tailings dam at Moline in the Northern Territory of Australia was the site of a study to assess the movement of potentially toxic elements from tailings into subsoil. The tailings at Moline were first laid down in 1959 and have since been leached by prevailing rainfall. Sixteen sampling sites were selected to give a good representation of the dam. At each site a trench was excavated through the tailings and into the subsoil then samples of subsoil were taken at 10 cm intervals down to a depth of 50 cm. A sample of the tailings overlying the tailings-subsoil interface was also taken. Samples were analysed for radium uranium copper zinc and lead. At most sites there was only minor accumulation of these elements in the 0-10 cm subsoil layer immediately below the interface with concentrations typically one or two orders of magnitude less than the concentrations in overlying tailings. Below 10 cm the concentrations were typically at or close to background concentrations.
- ItemThe rum Jungle tailings dam - chemical profile of the subsoil(Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 1987-09) Lowson, RT; Evans, JV; Sarbutt, JV; Sinclair, G; Folk, EIn a survey of soils below the Rum Jungle uranium mine tailings dam parameters measured were pH moisture content particle distribution total Cu water-extractable Cu, Ca and SO4 and acid-extractable Ra. The cation profile had a marked discontinuity at the soil/tailings interface. This was attributed to a complex hydrogeology and to the presence of a reduction zone in the soil immediately below the tailings. The tailings acted as an aquaclude to a water table which fluctuated with the monsoonal season. The reduction zone acted as a cation trap preventing cation transport. The radium concentration dropped to levels acceptable to public health within a few centimetres of the soil/tailings interface.