Volume 52 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry updates our knowledge of U-series geochemistry, offer an opportunity for non-specialists to understand its basic principles, and give us a view of the future of this active field of research. In this volume, for the first time, all the methods for determining the uranium and thorium decay chain nuclides in Earth materials are discussed. It was prepared in advance of a two-day short course (April 3-4, 2003) on U-series geochemistry, jointly sponsored by GS and MSA and presented in Paris, France prior to the joint EGS/AGU/EUG meeting in Nice.

Developments in Economic Geology, 16: Geochemical Prospecting for Thorium and Uranium Deposits focuses on the analysis of various geochemical methods applicable in the search for all types of thorium and uranium deposits. The publication first ponders on the general chemistry and geochemistry of thorium and uranium, deposits of thorium and uranium and their indicator elements, and geochemical prospecting for thorium and uranium. Discussions focus on radiation surveys, selection of areas, primary mineralization, supergene oxidation, and secondary enrichment of endogenic thorium and uranium deposits, and equilibrium in the natural radioactive series. The book then ponders on lithochemical, pedochemical, hydrochemical, and biogeochemical surveys of the geochemical prospecting for thorium and uranium. Topics include heavy and light mineral surveys of stream, river, pond, and lake sediments, detailed litochemical surveys utilizing primary halos, and case histories. The text takes a look at sampling procedures and analytical methods for estimating thorium and uranium and miscellaneous methods and atmochemical surveys on the geochemical prospecting for thorium and uranium, including isotopic methods, remote sensing and geothermal methods, and liquid inclusion and thermoluminescent methods. The book is a valuable source of data for researchers wanting to explore geochemical prospecting for thorium and uranium deposits.

The second edition of this book reflects the rapid growth in the field of uranium-series disequilibrium during the past decade. The new edition presents a comprehensive discussion of theory and analytical methodology, emphasizing applications to problems in the Earth, marine, and environmental sciences where the phenomenon of disruption in naturally occurring decay series has facilitated so much productive research. To this end, the editors have drawn upon the experience and expertise of leading practitioners in each specialized area. This book should thus serve both as a reference text and a practical manual for graduate students and researchers in geochemistry, isotope hydrology, environmental science, sedimentology, Earth science, and archaeology.

turning points that, in the course of a few years, have made this The uranium minerals that today are at the centre of worldwide metal an essential raw material. attention were unknown until 1780, when Wagsfort found a First, the destructive property of fission reactions made uranium a metal of fundamental strategic importance, increas pitchblende sample in 10hanngeorgenstadt. This discovery passed unnoticed, however, since Wags fort thought that it ing research in some nations, but the revolution came with the plan for the real possibility of utilizing chain reactions for contained a black species of a zinc mineral-hence the n':lme 'pitchblende' (= pitch-like blende). Seven years later, Klaproth, energy production in place of conventional fuels. while examining the mineral, noted that it contained an oxide Since that time a 'uranium race' has been in progress in many countries-often justified by the well-founded hope of of an unknown metal, which he called 'uranium' in honour of the planet Uranus, recently discovered by Herschel. Klaproth becoming self-sufficient with regard to energy, or at least of also believed that he had separated the metal, but, in fact, the paying off a part of the financial deficit due to increasing fuel imports.

Volume 38 of Reviews in Mineralogy provides detailed reviews of various aspects of the mineralogy and geochemistry of uranium. We have attempted to produce a volume that incorporates most important aspects of uranium in natural systems, while providing some insight into important applications of uranium mineralogy and geochemistry to environmental problems. The result is a blend of perspectives and themes: historical (Chapter 1), crystal structures (Chapter 2), systematic mineralogy and paragenesis (Chapters 3 and 7), the genesis of uranium ore deposits (Chapters 4 and 6), the geochemical behavior of uranium and other actinides in natural fluids (Chapter 5), environmental aspects of uranium such as microbial effects, groundwater contamination and disposal of nuclear waste (Chapters 8, 9 and 10), and various analytical techniques applied to uranium-bearing phases (Chapters 11-14). This volume was written in preparation for a short course by the same title, sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America, October 22 and 23, 1999 in Golden, Colorado, prior to MSA's joint annual meeting with the Geological Society of America.