Radioactive fossils: The uranium anomaly and its paleobiological implications.

Magdalena Długosz-Lisiecka, Daniel Tyborowski, Marcin Krystek

Chemosphere 2021 Dec

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In this study, several natural radionuclides (40K, 238U, 235U, 228Ac) and their decay product were investigated in various invertebrate and vertebrate fossils. In the high radioactivity group of fossils, 238U and 235U concentrations increased from 141 to 3621 Bq/kg and from 5.4 to 167 Bq/kg, respectively. In the low radioactivity group of fossils, concentrations of both U isotopes increased from 4.6 to 51 Bq/kg and from 0.18 to 2.3 Bq/kg, respectively. High radioactivity has been linked to the phosphatization process that affected the uranium sorption. Scanning of electron microscope images and X-ray fluorescence analysis were used to confirm the mode of preservation of studied fossils and the presence of a correlation between the phosphorus content and uranium elements in fossil specimens. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Magdalena Długosz-Lisiecka, Daniel Tyborowski, Marcin Krystek. Radioactive fossils: The uranium anomaly and its paleobiological implications. Chemosphere. 2021 Dec;285:131444