Uranium remobilisation in anoxic deep rock-groundwater system in response to late Quaternary climate changes – Results from Forsmark, Sweden

Abstract

Unusually high uranium (U) concentrations (up to 175 μg/L) have been measured in groundwater at depths between 400 and 650 m at the Forsmark site, eastern Sweden. Since it is unlikely that such high concentrations formed under the stagnant and low redox groundwater conditions that currently prevail, this study employs U-series isotopes to understand how the recent evolution (<1 Ma) of the flow system has influenced the observed U distribution. Material from fractures as deep as 700 m along the assumed flow route was subject to U-series disequilibrium (USD) measurements, as well as sequential extractions (SE) and U redox-state analyses that revealed the U-series activity ratios in the bulk and soluble fraction of the fracture precipitates. Uranium isotope data collected over several years of annual groundwater monitoring were scrutinized to evaluate the U sources and U exchange in fractures located in high-U groundwater sections. Numerical simulations with the experimental data were used to study evolution of U-series isotope composition in a fracture in the highest U section at ~500 m depth under various U mobility scenarios. The results show that U redistribution in fractures with certain dissolution/deposition flux ratios during periodic water intrusions, driven by glaciation and deglaciation events during the last 120 ka, can explain the U anomaly in the groundwater.