Award Date

1-1-1992

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Chemistry

First Committee Member

Vern Hodge

Number of Pages

53

Abstract

Sandy Cove is located in an area of southwestern Utah which received the highest fallout from Nevada Test Site (NTS) nuclear testing during the period 1951-1959. The reservoir was shown to have a constant sedimentation rate and to be relatively undisturbed. A 40 centimeter (cm) core taken from this reservoir contained sediment deposited after 1974 and did not reach back to the NTS fallout years of 1951 to 1959 or back to the peak worldwide fallout years of 1962-1963. The amounts of cesium-137 (Cs-137) and plutonium-239,240 (Pu-239,240) which were found in a 1974-1979 dated Sandy Cove core section were almost identical with the reported activities from a 1974-1979 dated core section taken from Enterprise reservoir in 1979. Enterprise reservoir is located in an area of southwestern Utah which has received less fallout from testing at the NTS. Cesium-137 activity decreases from 2.7 to 1.5 picoCuries (pCi) per dry gram of sediment for 1974 to 1979 at Sandy Cove. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

Keywords

Dating; Fallout; Lacustrine; Sediment; Southwestern; Utah

Controlled Subject

Chemistry, Analytic; Radiation chemistry; Geochemistry

File Format

pdf

File Size

1331.2 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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