Influences of geological factors on the distribution of uranium in drinking water limescale in the junction zone of the East European Platform and the Southern Urals

Abstract

An assessment of uranium contents and distribution in drinking water limescale has been conducted in the Republic of Bashkortostan (RB), Russia. A total of 515 limescale samples from 262 settlements of the RB were analyzed. The spread of U concentration values in limescale samples ranged from 0.01 to 61.0 μg/g. Elevated U concentrations in the West of the RB corresponded with the horsts of the granite-gneiss crystalline basement of the South-Tatar Dome and their Eastern slopes, the areas with the Lower Permian red beds and the oil and gas fields. The U migration from the granite-gneiss basement is attributed to the tectonic factor and hydrocarbons movement. Elevated concentrations of U within the South of the RB are associated primarily with the deposits of the Southern Ural brown coal basin. The Bashkir Trans-Urals anomalies are mainly associated with Lower Paleozoic eclogite complex, Devonian and Carboniferous volcanic-sedimentary, carbonate, intrusive formations, as well as the Jurassic cover of terrigenous marine sediments. The negative anomalies of the spatial distribution of U are located in the area of the Ufimian Plateau mainly composed of limestone.

Keywords: Drinking water scale; East European platform; Geochemistry; Geoecology; Radioactive elements; Republic of Bashkortostan; Southern Urals; Uranium.