RE: Radioactive Fossils

[Bernard L Cohen <blc+@pitt.edu>]

On Thu, 6 May 1999, Karam, Andrew wrote:

> I can't cite any specific sources regarding fossils.  However, U is pretty
> soluble in oxidizing waters and insoluble in anoxic waters.  This is how,
> for example, U ends up in coal and organic-rich shales.  The rotting
> vegetation in a coal swamp removes the oxygen so that, when surface waters
> bearing dissolved U mixes, the U precipitates out into the coal or organic
> shale.

	--Why, then, are coal mines low in radon compared to other mines?
This was a key point in concluding that radon was responsible for lung
cancer in some miners -- coal miners do not have an excess of lung cancer.  
Also, U in coal averages 1 ppm  vs 2.5 ppm in average rock. I was under
the impression that geochemistry worked against U and coal depositing together
 
Bernard L. Cohen
Physics Dept.
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Tel: (412)624-9245
Fax: (412)624-9163
e-mail: blc+@pitt.edu



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