Minerals of Uranium

Evolution of uranium and thorium minerals

The origins and near-surface distributions of the ~250 known uranium and/or thorium minerals elucidate principles of mineral evolution. This history can be divided into four phases. The first, from ~4.5 to 3.5 Ga, involved successive concentrations of uranium and thorium from their initial uniform trace distribution into magmatic-related fluids from which the first U4+ and Th4+ minerals, uranin...

Uranyl Phosphate Minerals as Long Term Sink in Uranium Bioremediation

iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Martial Taillefert, who has spent the most time and energy laying the foundation for my scientific career. I would also like to thank Dr. Carrie Shepler for helping me throughout my time at Georgia Tech. A special expression of gratitude goes out to Kate Salome for assisting me in the beginning of my research, and for continuing to offer support th...

Contribution to the mineralogy of acid drainage of Uranium minerals: Marecottite and the zippeite-group

Sulfate-rich acid waters produced by oxidation of sulfide minerals enhance U mobility around U ores and U-bearing radioactive waste. Upon evaporation, several secondary uranyl minerals, including many uranyl sulfates, precipitate from these waters. The zippeite-group of minerals is one of the most common and diverse in such settings. To decipher the nature and crystal chemistry of the zippeite-...

Redox-driven dissolution of clay minerals by uranium under high pressure CO2 conditions

Fossil Particle Tracks and Uranium Distributions in Minerals of the Vaca Muerta Meteorite.

Fossil tracks of charged particles have been observed in minerals separated from the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite. Irradiation of samples of the meteorite with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor, together with measurements of track-length distribution, indicate that some of the tracks result from the spontaneous fission of uranium impurities; others, however, are of different origin. Uranium con...