Effects of Mineralogy on the Sorption of Strontium and Cesium Onto Calico Hills Tuff

Abstract

ABSTRACTSorption and desorption measurements were made of strontium and cesium onto clinoptilolite and Calico Hills tuff. The object was to see whether there was a correlation between sorption of strontium and cesium onto Calico Hills Tuff and the clinoptilolite based on the content of clinoptilolite in the Calico Hills Tuff. If sorption onto Calico Hills Tuff is solely due to the presence of clinoptilolite, then the ratios of the sorption ratios on tuff to those on clinoptilolite at similar conditions should be the weight fraction of the clinoptilolite in the tuff. Since the tuff contained about 50% clinoptilolite, the ratios would be expected to be about 0.5 if sorption was due solely to clinoptilolite. The experimental evidence showed that the ratios were generally near 0.5 for both cesium and strontium sorption and that ion-exchange processes were operative for both the clinoptilolite and the tuff. However, the ratios differed to a small extent for different conditions, and there were indications that other sorption processes were also involved.