Raman mapping of coal halos induced by uranium mineral radiation.

Raman mapping microspectroscopy was used as an advantageous high spatial resolution method for detailed assessment of the structure of radiation-induced halos in bituminous coal (Upper Paleozoic) with numerous inclusions of uraninite and coffinite. The uranium content in inclusions in the samples studied ranged from 40 to 50 wt%. Raman structural parameters such as full width at half maximum, the positions of the D-band and G-band peaks and their area ratios were calculated, and these correlated well with vitrinite reflectance.

Mercury contamination of stream sediments in the North Bohemian Coal District (Czech Republic): Mercury speciation and the role of organic matter.

Industrial expansion in the North Bohemian Coal District over the past decades has had an adverse effect not only on stream sediments but also on the freshwater system. So far mercury occurrence has not been properly investigated in the area. In response to this situation, the present study applies mercury quantification and speciation in order to predict the possible mobility of mercury.

Structural changes in amber due to uranium mineralization.

The presence of uranium, with a bulk mass fraction of about 1.5 wt% and radiolytic alterations are a feature of Cenomanian amber from Křižany, at the northeastern edge of the North Bohemian Cretaceous uranium ore district. Pores and microcracks in the amber were filled with a mineral admixture, mainly in the form of Zr-Y-REE enriched uraninite.

A multi-instrumental geochemical study of anomalous uranium enrichment in coal.

Contents of uranium in coals from Odeř in the northernmost part of the Sokolov Basin, Czech Republic, in the vicinity of the well known St. Joachimsthal uranium ore deposits, reach extremely high values. In the present work, coal samples with contents of uranium ranging from 0.

Toxicologically important trace elements and organic compounds investigated in size-fractionated urban particulate matter collected near the Prague highway.

Urban particulate matter was collected in the most exposed area of Prague, near a busy highway, in order to provide petrographic and chemical characterization useful for health impact assessment in that locality or other applications. Samples were collected from filters of the air conditioning system in two years, 2009 and 2010, and sieved into four grain-size fractions: 0.507-0.