Mineralization of ^(14)C-ring Labelled 2,4-D in Egyptian Soils Under Aerobic and Anaerobic Conditions

Obiectives To study the mineralization of 2,4-D in clay and clay loam Egyptian soils under subtropical conditions over a period of 90 d. Methods Using 14C-ring labelled pesticide, laboratory studies under aerobic and anaerobic conditions were conducted. 14C-activity in solutions was directly determined by liquid scintillation counting. Unextractable soil residues were determined by combustion. The nature of methanolic '4C-residues was determined by thin layer and high performance liquid chromatographic analysis. Results Under aerobic conditions 10%-14% of applied dose was mineralized during 90 d irrespective of soil type. The soil extractable pesticide residues decreased with time and the bound residues gradually increased. The highest binding capacity of about 26%-29% was observed in clay soil under aerobic conditions after 90 d. A good balance sheet was obtained and the percentage recovery was generally between 91% and 100%. Conclusion The mineralization of 2,4-D in clay soil was higher than that in clay loam soil under anaerobic conditions. Under aerobic conditions, the soil type had no influence on mineralizaion capacity of 2,4-D during 90 d. The soil binding increased with time whereby the extractable 14C-residues simultaneously decreased. Chromatographic analysis of the methanol extractable l4C-residues of soils revealed the presence of 2,4-D as a main product together with 2,4-dichlorophenol.

An in-situ analysis and measurement of thorium-234,uranium isotopes in seawater

A low-level β counting-or spectrum apparatus used for the detection of the β radiation of thorium-234 and α spectrum of thorium- 228 simultaneously and an easy operating procedure for the enrichment, radiochemical separating, sampling and measurement of thorium-234 and uranium-238 in the ocean are developed based on the requirements of analyzing export productivity in the eupho- ric zone via thorium-234 - uranium-238 radioactivity disequilibrium. The detecting efficiency both of 13 and α radiation is higher than 20%. The background of βradiation is less than 0. 5 min ^-1 , and the energy resolution of ct detector is better than 1%. Total recycle ratio of thorium-234 is about 75%. Using the above apparatus and procedure, the radioactivities of dissolved thorium-234 and uranium-238, particle thorium-234 and uranium-238 in seawater of the South China Sea, the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean were analyzed.

Radiochemical studies of deep - sea manganese nodules

Five manganese nodules collected from the Northern Mid - Pacific have been analysed for their U and Th isotopes.lt is found that the enrichment of thorium compared to uranium is universal in deep- sea manganese, nodules and in the top sides of the nodules there are large excesses of Th and Pa decreasing exponentially with depth. For each of the nodules, the concordant growth rates are obtained from three different methods: 230Thex 230Thex/232Th and 231Paex.The growth rates of manganese nodules are closely related to the chemical compositions of the nodules and the types of the underlying sediments. The growth rates of five nodules are determined to be in the range of 0.79-7.4 mm/106a, in agreement with those predicted from the chemical compositions of the nodules. By the comparison of the extrapolated 230Thex,230Thex/232 Th and 231PaeX data from the top and bottom surfaces of the nodule from Site M21 yields, the nodule turnover time is (9.83-13.7)×104a.

Determination for β-delayed fission probability of ^(230)Ac

The 230Ra has been produced via 232Th-2p reaction induced by 60 MeV/u 18O ion irradia-tion of natural thorium. The radium was radiochemically separated from the mixture of thorium andreaction products. Thin Ra sources in which 230Ac was got through 230Ra β- → 230Ac were pre-pared for observing fission fragments from β-delayed fission of 230Ac. The sources were exposedto the mica fission track detectors and measured by the HPGe γ detector. The precursor 230Ac wasidentified by means of observed two fission events as well as γ spectra, and the β-delayed fissionprobability of 230Ac was obtained to be (1.19±0.85) × 10-8.