Uranium-series dating of actinide decay series mobility at Pena Blanca

Studies of U-series disequilibria near uranium ore deposits can provide valuable information on the mobility of actinides and their daughters over the range of timescales needed to assess the stability of proposed waste repositories. We have applied highly sensitive TIMS methods to obtain 238U-234U-230Th dates for three whole rock samples within a {approximately}30 in long fracture emanating into surrounding tuff from the deposit at Pena Blanca, Mexico. The 238U-234U-230Th data lie on a whole-rock isochron that requires closed-system behavior for the last 380 ka. Preliminary 231Pa-235U data for the U-rich vein also indicates closed system behavior for at least the last 100 ka. In contrast, 226Ra/230Th activity ratios range from 0.76-0.99 which indicates more recent Ra mobility within the fracture most likely due to surface water infiltration. Our results require uranium, thorium and protactinium stability despite recent radium mobility and provide important constraints on repository stability over {approximately}100 ka timescales.