RE: Radioactive Fossils

[Laurie Taylor <laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu>]

I may be way off base here, but I am wondering if it has anything to do
with the fact that coal is an "organic" rock made up of aromatic and
aliphatic compounds.  Perhaps it has something to do with its chemical
structure and physical makeup which is unlike other non-organic type rocks
such as granites and limestone?

Laurie Taylor
The University of Iowa
laurie-taylor@uiowa.edu

>
>	--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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