238U removal and accumulation in Concepción bay sediments, Chile

Abstract

Activity profiles of 234U, 238U and 210Pb, as well as the 234U/238U ratio, and 210Pbxs radiochemical parameters and macrobenthic abundance in sediments were measured and calculated at different times during a year (1991), along a transect between the head and the mouth of Concepción Bay, Chile. This bay is a semi-enclosed shallow embayment with a strong seasonality in its hydrographic and biological characteristics due to wind driven upwelling. Upwelling of oxygen-poor and nutrient-rich water occurs and organic detritus reaches the seabed, creating a sub-oxic and anoxic environment during, at least, 57% of the year. 238U and 234U activities in the sediments show a gradual increase from 1.57 to 6.07 dpm g-1 from the surface to 15 cm depth in the sediments. Under suboxic-anoxic conditions, this pattern is consistent with a reduction of U(VI) to U(IV) and its subsequent removal from pore-water. A 234U/238U ratio of 1.10 ±0.08 indicates an authigenic origen. The 238U accumulation rate and inventory show a significant increase from Station 1 (head of the bay) to Station 3 (mouth of the bay) from 348 to 794 dpm cm-2 kyr-1 and of 14 to 32 dpm cm-2, respectively. The organic-rich and highly reducing sediments also show an increase in sulphate-reduction rates, sulfur speciation and bioturbation activities of macrobenthos. These patterns suggest that the extent of U enrichment in these sediments is regulated by bacterial sulphate reduction rate and bioturbation and bioirrigation activities. The estimated 238U accumulation rates are higher than those reported for other anoxic environments, representing an important U sink in marine sediments. The geochemical behaviour of U seems to be very sensitive to the redox condition and this characteristic could become an important paleoceanographic tool to identify changes in oceanographic conditions during the last millennium