Radium cycling in groundwater : implications for bioremediation and tracer studies

Radium (Ra) is a radioactive alkaline earth element and forms naturally from the decay of uranium (U) and thorium (Th), elements that are ubiquitous within most rocks, soils and sediments. Radium contamination associated with anthropogenic activities such as hydraulic fracturing, uranium mining, and nuclear waste disposal poses significant public and ecological health risks. While occurrence of Ra in groundwater is concerning for public health and safety reasons, Ra is also a powerful tracer for calculating groundwater discharge and pollutant loading to coastal water. In this thesis, I investigate processes controlling Ra mobility in groundwater that are important for developing remediation strategies and improving our understanding of Ra tracer applications.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctoral

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Mehta, Neha,Ph. D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Benjamin D. Kocar and Charles F. Harvey.

• Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/121704

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/121704