Neutron activation analysis for determination of trace elements in sediments in the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Abstract

The feasibility of applying both thermal and epithermal neutron activation analysis for simultaneous determinations of elemental composition in sediments, collected from the Sea of Galilee (Kineret Lake), Israel, during 1988–1993, was experimentally investigated. In the present work, the concentrations of 30 elements (Al, Ba, Br, Ca, Ce, Co, Cs, Cr, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Nd, Rb, Sc, Si, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, U, V, Yb and Zn) in sediments were determined. The validity of the method was checked by analyzing the U.S. NBS Standard Reference Material SRM-1633a; the elemental content found agreed well with the published certified data. Aluminium was determined by reactor neutron activation analysis (RNAA) taking into account the contribution of silicon to the total28Al activity by the28Si(n,p)28Al reaction. Measurements of irradiated mixtures of Si and Al showed that the dependence of log Si∶Al mass ratio vs. log cadmium ratio (RCd) of28Al is almost linear. The data can be analyzed more accurately by a parabolic correlation (log Si:Al mass ratio vs logRCd). The concentrations of fission radionuclide137Cs, an activation radionuclide134Cs (derived from Chernobyl accident) and the naturally occuring radionuclides40K,226Ra and232Th in sediments were also measured by γ-ray spectrometry using Marinelli (Reentrant) Beaker-Sample Containers.