Environmental assessment of risks associated with the Ordovician Dictyonema shale in the eastern part of the Baltic Klint

Authors

  • Сергей Васильевич Лебедев St. Petersburg State University, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
  • Станислав Викторович Дуброва St. Petersburg State University, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
  • Петр Владимирович Федоров St. Petersburg State University, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
  • Виталий Владимирович Куриленко St. Petersburg State University, 7-9, Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation
  • Виллингтон Сиабато Department of Geography, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Carrera 30 No. 45–03, 212, Bogota D.C., 111321, Colombia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu07.2018.202

Abstract

The results of research considered in this article made it possible to expand the understanding of the environmental risks associated with the highly radioactive bituminous argillites of the Baltic Sea region. The natural patterns of the distribution of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K are established along the strike and thickness of layers. The average value of the effective specific activity (ESA) for all samples in the Koporka River valley amounted 1270 Bq/kg. The minimum value of ESA was 650 Bq/kg (the closest to the seam roof level), and the maximum value was 3750  Bq/kg (the second from the seam floor level). Conversion to mass fractions of natural radionuclides (NRN) showed that the average content of uranium in the sample amounted up to 90.7 g/t, thorium up to 11.4 g/t and of potassium up to 4.1%. The high heterogeneity of the content distribution of NRN along the strike of the Dictyonema shale seam was confirmed by studies of separate outcrops of highly radioactive rocks along the banks of the Tosna River. In general, the level of the argillites radioactivity has abnormally high value and exceeds the natural background more than ten times. The average annual values of the effective dose amounted from 5,8 to 10,7 mSv/year, that should be classified as the territories of emergency ecological danger and zones of ecological disaster.

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References


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Published

2018-06-01

How to Cite

Лебедев, С. В. (2018) “Environmental assessment of risks associated with the Ordovician Dictyonema shale in the eastern part of the Baltic Klint”, Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Earth Sciences, 63(2), pp. 147–159. doi: 10.21638/11701/spbu07.2018.202.

Issue

Vol. 63 No. 2 (2018)

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Articles

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Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Earth Sciences" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.