Landscape control of uranium and thorium in boreal streams – spatiotemporal variability and the role of wetlands

Abstract

Abstract. The concentrations of uranium and thorium in ten partly nested streams in the boreal forest region were monitored over a two-year period. The investigated catchments ranged from small headwaters (0.1 km2) up to a fourth-order stream (67 km2). Considerable spatiotemporal variations were observed, with little or no correlation between streams. The fluxes of both uranium and thorium varied substantially between the subcatchments, ranging from 1.7 to 30 g km−2 a−1 for uranium and from 3.2 to 24 g km−2 a−1 for thorium. Airborne gamma spectrometry was used to measure the concentrations of uranium and thorium in surface soils throughout the catchment, suggesting that the concentrations of uranium and thorium in mineral soils are similar throughout the catchment. The fluxes of uranium and thorium were compared to a wide range of parameters characterising the investigated catchments and the chemistry of the stream water, e.g. soil concentrations of these elements, pH, TOC (total organic carbon), Al, Si and hydrogen carbonate, but it was concluded that the spatial variabilities in the fluxes of both uranium and thorium mainly were controlled by wetlands. The results indicate that there is a predictable and systematic accumulation of both uranium and thorium in boreal wetlands that is large enough to control the transport of these elements. On the landscape scale approximately 65–80% of uranium and 55–65% of thorium entering a wetland were estimated to be retained in the peat. Overall, accumulation in mires and other types of wetlands was estimated to decrease the fluxes of uranium and thorium from the boreal forest landscape by 30–40%, indicating that wetlands play an important role for the biogeochemical cycling of uranium and thorium in the boreal forest landscape. The atmospheric deposition of uranium and thorium was also quantified, and its contribution to boreal streams was found to be low compared to weathering.