Uranium In Groundwater In The Sedimentary Aquifer Of The Eastern Sector Of Valle De La Cruz, Córdoba, Argentina

MATTEODA EDEL; BLARASIN MONICA; LUTRI VERONICA FLORENCIA; GIACOBONE DANIELA; LUCIANA MALDONADO; BECHER QUINODOZ FATIMA; GIULIANO ALBO JESICA; CABRERA ADRIANA

International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences

International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS)

Año: 2019 vol. 6

2394-3661

Uranium has a extensive distribution in nature, ingranite rocks and in various mineral deposits. The presence inthe environment is due to leaching and circulation from naturaldeposits but also from anthropogenic emissions. The objectiveof this work is to establish the origin and processes that mayexplain the Uranium dissolved in surface water andgroundwater. Also, the Uranium natural background range wasestimated and anomalies were detected using statisticalmethodologies. The uranium values in groundwater resultedgenerally low. The most likely natural source of uranium in theregion would be the minerals that make up the rocks located inthe Comechingones Mountains which are checked out tocontain uranium and those belonging to the loessic deposits thatare present throughout the basin. It was statistically estimatedthat the range of natural background values of total uranium insurface water and groundwater is between 0.47 and 17.3 μg/L,with a characteristic value (percentile 0.5) of 8.1 μg/L.Although in surface water, the total uranium values are withinthe natural background range, some groundwater samplesshow little high values anomalies, some of which were linked toagriculture and especially concentrated livestock, beinguranium correlated to nitrates. The highest U concentrationsare linked to more oxidizing sectors and higher pH. The lowestvalues are located in the wetland area, where the geochemicalenvironment is characterized by a lower pH and a high organicmatter content, which makes possible the Uretention/precipitation as a consequence of possible formationof U- complexes with carbonates or organic matter oradsorption on iron and/or manganese oxides. Taking intoaccount that the Argentine Food Code does not establish theUranium limit value for human consumption, the internationalguideline was used (reference level of 30 μg/L), finding that 80%of the samples are below the mentioned limit.