Environmental Radioactivity Measurement Facility

Department of Oceanography

Florida State University

Tallahassee, Florida

USA

Objectives

Study the distribution of U/Th decay-series nuclides to address problems in the earth/marine sciences.

Improve chemical and instrumental techniques for measurement of all radionuclides in the environment.

U-Series Disequilibrium in the Ocean

238U ~ 3.2 g/L

230Th

226Ra

Seawater

Sediments

238U 234U

237 271

230Th 226Ra

<1 ~10dpm/100L:

(234Th, 231Pa, 210Pb, etc.)

~50

222Rn 210Pb222Rn 222Rn

234Th

var.

R/VEichrom

FundingFederal: NSF, ONR,

NOAA, EPA

State: FDEP, FIPR, FDOH

Private: PG Research Foundation, ACS, Earthwatch

Current Projects

Tracing of groundwater discharge into the coastal zone via Rn-222, radium isotopes

Automated Rn-222 in water and improved Ra-224 via Mn-fiber/Rn counting

Radioanalytical analysis of large volume environmental samples via Diphonix

Th-234 in marine sediments via extraction chromatography - LSC

Graduate Students - M.S.

Jamie Christoff Michael Lambert

Graduate Students - Ph.D.

Henrieta Dulaiova Svetlana Nour

Other Personnel

Guebuem Kim, Ph.DPostdoc

Mike Schultz,ABD

Reide Corbett, Ph.DAsst. Prof.

Undergraduates

Igor Nathan

Scientific Advisor

“Bill…you need to use Diphonix resin to remove sample matrix and make

your life easier”

I wonder when FSU is going to play a real football

team…

Remove the Sample Matrix…?

It…Could…Work…!!!

Environmental Radioactivity Measurement Facility

FSU

The EndThe End