Retention of rare earth elements, thorium and uranium in sedimentary rocks; A Case study in the Horonobe area of Hokkaido, Japan

Murakami, Takuma; Sasamoto, Hiroshi   ; Mizuno, Takashi   

Development of techniques for investigating the long-term migration of elements in deep underground is important with respect to safety assessment for the geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As one study of the migration of elements in deep underground, the distribution of REE, Th and U in sedimentary rock of Horonobe area in Hokkaido was investigated, and discussed whether the difference of hydrogeological structure and lithofacies influences on the distributions. As the results, it was considered that REE and Th were mainly retained in minerals originating from terrigenous clastic and secondary mineral occurred in early diagenesis, and their distributions were relatively homogenous in both the Koetoi and Wakkanai formations. Uranium was indicated to be maintained in the sedimentary rock until now after depositing in deep-sea sediment. It was considered that the U deposition was occurred by adsorption on organic matter and reductive precipitation with decomposition of organic matter. In addition, it was confirmed that the distributions of these elements were not influenced by the difference of hydrogeological and lithofacies.