РАДОН В МИНЕРАЛЬНЫХ ВОДАХ СИХОТЭ-АЛИНЯ (ПРИМОРСКИЙ КРАЙ)

Abstract

Geological and hydrogeological conditions of 19 occurrences of thermomineral water in the southern Far East of Russia are considered in the paper. Concentrations of radon were measured in waters and those of uranium and thorium in host rocks and secondary minerals. The results were compared with the chemical composition of waters and gases in the mineral springs. It is established that water-bearing rocks are classified into rocks of low and normal radioactivity. The contents of uranium (< 0.56 µg/l) and thorium (< 0.1 µg/l) in the waters are low. Measurements of radon concentration in mineral water springs occurring in Primorye indicate that most of them are weakly radioactive (0.2–1.5 kBq/l), whereas two are moderately radioactive (1.5–7.5 kBq/l). From a medical-balneological point of view, waters in 7 out of 19 springs were defined as radon waters, with four of them classified as nitrogen thermal water and three as CO2-rich mineral water. CO2-rich mineral waters of the Shetukhinskaya group exhibit the highest level of radioactivity. Such nature-made objects reflect the state of the geological environment and can be utilized both for medical purposes and for monitoring a wide range of hydrogeochemical parameters. Based on the analysis of geological conditions and geochemical features of thermomineral water occurrences, the factors that determine the level of radioactivity were identified and general schemes were proposed for the transport of radon to the surface in various geological and hydrogeological conditions.