Lead isotope evidence for recent uranium mobility in geological formations of Brazil: implications for radioactive waste disposal

Lead–lead isotope data from whole rock samples are used to investigate the recent (last few million years) mobility of U and Th. The method is based on the comparison of the calculated present day U and Th concentrations required to yield the Pb isotope composition in the samples with the actual present day concentrations of U and Th obtained by direct measurement. The geological formations studied include the Neoproterozoic carbonate sediments of the Bambuí Group, Archean/Paleoproterozoic granite–greenstone terrain of the Contendas–Mirante Complex and a Proterozoic ortho-gneisses hosting U deposit in Lagoa Real. All these formations are in the São Francisco Craton, Brazil. The data show high U mobility in the carbonate sediments and in the deformed ortho-gneisses set in a ductile shear zone. Infiltration of groundwater through fault zones seems to have facilitated the U mobility. The Pb isotope approach is a useful technique complementing U-series disequilibrium studies and may be included for site characterization studies for radioactive waste disposal.