Activities of isotopes of uranium, thorium, radium, and lead of Antarctic coals

Five coal samples from the Transantarctic Mountains of Antarctica were analyzed for the primordial radionuclides uranium-238, thorium-232, and uranium-235, the parents of the naturally occurring uranium, thorium, and actinium disintegration series, respectively. In most of the samples, the radionuclides uranium-234, thorium-230 radium-226, and lead-210 of the uranium series and radium-228 and thorium-228 of the thorium series were also measured and found to be in secular equilibrium with their parents. Activities of uranium-238, thorium-232, and uranium-235 ranged from about 0.1 to 1.0 pCi/g, 0.09 to 1.1 pCi/g, and 0.006 to 0.06 pCi/g, respectively. These results are comparable to corresponding activities reported for United States coals. 10 references, 3 tables