Delayed-Neutron Activation Determination Of Uranium in Twelve Rock Reference Standards

The uranium content of twelve rock reference samples, five from the Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, four from the Czechoslovakian Institute of Mineral Raw Materials and three from the United States Geological Survey was determined by neutron activation followed by delayed-neutron counting. Uranium contents measured ranged from 0.20 to 560 ppm. Three of the Canadian samples have relatively well established uranium contents. Of these we agree well with two of them; our value on the third is ∼13% lower than the recommended value. Comparison of our data on the other samples with other researchers is not yet possible because (i) no determinations are yet reported on several of these samples and (ii) even when several reported values are available, the wide disparity of those values does not allow meaningful comparison.     

Biogeochemical prospecting for uranium in Nova Scotia

Ashed twigs of Picea rubens (red spruce) collected over an area of uranium mineralization in central Nova Scotia were analyzed for uranium in the course of biogeochemical prospecting for this element. Uranium levels in background samples were significantly lower than in those collected from areas with mineralization either at depth or on the surface. Scintillometric data were useful only to differentiate background and surface mineralization. Uranium levels in soils showed no correlation whatsoever with mineralization or with radiometry. There was a very high degree of correlation between the scintillometric data and uranium concentrations in ashed twigs and it is considered that twigs of Picea rubens might be successfully used for biogeochemical prospecting for uranium in this area.     

热表面电离质谱法测定贫化铀样品痕量铀同位素比值及含量

选用磷酸为离子流发射剂,热表面电离质谱法分析纳克量级贫化铀样品的铀同位素比值,方法最大相对标准偏差2.9%。以233U为稀释剂,采用同位素稀释法对铀的含量进行测定,扩展不确定度为2.4%(K=2)。研究表明,在纳克量级的铀同位素比值测定中,来自铼带等铀本底的干扰影响不容忽视,需要进一步研究并扣除。     

Uranium transport in the Walker River Basin,California and Nevada

During the summer of 1976 waters from tributaries, rivers, springs and wells were sampled in the Walker River Basin. Snow and sediments from selected sites were also sampled. All samples were analyzed for uranium and other elements. The resulting data provide an understanding of the transport of uranium within a closed hydrologic basin as well as providing a basis for the design of geochemical reconnaissance studies for the Basin and Range Province of the Western United States.Spring and tributary data are useful in locating areas containing anomalous concentrations of uranium. However, agricultural practices obscure the presence of known uranium deposits and render impossible the detection of other known deposits.Uranium is extremely mobile in stream waters and does not appear to sorb or precipitate. Uranium has a long residence time (2500 years) in the open waters of Walker Lake; however, once it crosses the sediment-water interface, it is reduced to the U(IV) state and is lost from solution.Over the past two million years the amount of uranium transported to the terminal point of the Walker River system may have been on the order of 4 × 10⁸kg. This suggests that closed basin termini are sites for significant uranium accumulations and are, therefore, potential sites of uranium ore deposits.     

Use of radiometric (Cs-137, Pb-210), geomorphic,and stratigraphic techniques to date recent oxbow sediments in the rio puerco drainage Grants uranium region,New Mexico

In the absence of historic geochemical baseline data for the Grants uranium region, environmental changes resulting from uranium mine-mill activities can be determined only by indirect methods. A methodology for determining the age of recent sediments in streams draining the region has been established based on combined geomorphic, stratigraphic, and radiometric dating techniques. Because clayrich sediments retain possible radionuclides and heavy metals derived from mineralization and mined sources, sample sites which contain fine-grained deposits that both predate and postdate mine-mill activity were located in abandoned-channel segments (oxbows) of major streams draining the eastern Grants uranium region. Aerial photographs (and derivative maps) taken between 1935 and 1971 provided the historical and geomorphic documentation of approximate dates of oxbow formation and ages of alluvial fills in the abandoned-channel segments. Pits were dug at these oxbow sites to determine stratigraphy and composition of the deposits. Samples collected from pit walls and auger holes below the pits were subjected to radiometric analysis by gamma ray spectrometry for the artificial radionuclide Cs-137 and the natural radionuclide Pb-210 as well as other U-238 and Th-232 daughters. Because of the dynamic nature of the system, absolute dating with Cs-137 was not possible but samples could be dated as either pre-or post-1950. The 1950 date is important because it marked the beginning of the uranium exploitation in the region. The Pb-210 dating was not possible because background Pb-210 was very high relative to fallout Pb-210.     

The abundance and distribution of uranium in some oceanic,continental ultramafic inclusions and host basalts

The abundance and distribution of uranium in various continental and oceanic ultramafic inclusions and host basalts are reported. Uranium was determined by neutron activation (fission products, fission tracks and delayed-neutron methods) and alpha-particle autoradiography; data is also reported for the uranium content of various USGS standard rock powders. The concentration of uranium in both oceanic and continental samples is similar, levels are controlled by mineral compositions, and their relative abundance in different rock types. Highest levels are found in feldspathic and lowest in olivine rich inclusions. Uranium is enriched in mylonitised samples and along some inter-crystal boundaries. With the exception of some apatites, highest levels of uranium are in clinopyroxenes (chrome) and lowest in olivines; no enrichment of uranium in orthopyroxenes was observed. Attention is drawn to the problem of obtaining representative samples from the sea floor which have not been altered by saline solutions and the identification of uranium and daughter products present along inter-crystal boundaries. Differences in observed heat flow between continental and oceanic areas may reflect inadequate sampling of representative rock types present below the sea floor and lack of information for the true abundance and distribution of uranium in such rocks.     

The chemical and isotopic record of rock-water interaction in the Sherman Granite,Wyoming and Colorado

Chemical, isotopic, radiographic, and rock-leaching data are combined to describe the effects of rock-water interactions in core samples of petrographically fresh, 1.43 b.y.-old Sherman Granite. The data serve to identify sensitive indicators of incipient alteration and to estimate the degree, pathways, and timing of element mobilization. Unfractured core samples of Sherman Granite are remarkably fresh by most chemical or isotopic criteria, but incipient alteration is indicated by the abundance and distribution of uranium and the degree of radioactive equilibration of uranium with its decay products. Uranium abundances which are out of equilibrium with lead decay products indicate remobilization of a portion (3 to 60 percent) of original uranium in late Phanerozoic time. Association of uranium with minor but pervasive secondary alteration products also indicates some remobilization. The amount of apparent uranium mobility in unfractured Sherman Granite (3 to 60 percent) is small compared to the results of similar studies of Archean granites from nearby localities. Chemical and isotopic data evaluated as a function of core-sample depth suggest a uranium migrational pathway involving near-surface leaching and reconcentration at depth. Movement of solutions through the upper 200 ft (60 m) of Sherman Granite is fracture controlled, and brecciated granite shows more obvious petrographic, chemical, and isotopic evidence of alteration and multi-element redistribution. Laboratory experiments using freshly crushed Sherman Granite confirm that uranium is leached in preference to elements such as Si, Mg, Ca, and K, and that leachable uranium is situated close to the solid-liquid interface; perhaps as uranium along grain boundaries, in crystal defects, or on cleavage traces of minerals that exclude uranium from their structure.     

Uranium oxidation and probable subaerial weathering of phosphatized limestone from the Pourtales Terrace*

Phosphatized limestones from the Pourtales Terrace, Straits of Florida, have undergone fresh-water diagenesis, as shown by several selective petrologic features such as dissolution of aragonitic skeletal material and preservation and recrystallization of Mg-calcite. This interpretation is supported by the fact that greater than 94% of the uranium in these samples is in the U(VI) oxidation state. On the deeper Pourtales Escarpment, phosphatized limestones show no alteration features indicative of fresh-water diagenesis. The uranium in these samples is a mixture of U(IV) and U(VI) with oxidation-state ratios similar to other sea-floor phosphorites. Our interpretation of these data is that uranium in the terrace samples was oxidized when that area was emergent. The karsted surface of the terrace, therefore, is a result of subaerial exposure of this portion of the Floridan platform. The escarpment samples were never above sea level, and so more closely retain their original uranium oxidation-state ratios.     

Uranium in supergene phosphorites

The distribution of uranium was studied in supergene phosphorites from the zones of the weathering of sedimentary and endogenous rocks, as well as in nonmarine coprolitic phosphorites and, to a lesser extent, phosphorites from ocean islands. These phosphorites show a diversity of the composition of their carbonate-apatite and structural characteristics. The uranium content ranges mostly from 5 to 100 ppm, with minimum and maximum values of 0.5 and 790 ppm. There is no correlation between the uranium content of a phosphorite and the type of rock with which it is connected. Lacustrine coprolitic phosphorites show elevated uranium contents (about 200 ppm). The maximum uranium content was detected in finely laminated phosphorite encrustations. The correlation analysis of the whole data set (63 samples) showed that uranium content is not correlated with any other component of phosphorites at a confidence level of 0.95. In contrast, there is a correlation between U and P₂O₅, CaO, and F for the combined set of samples from southern Siberian deposits. The significant correlation of U with Na₂O and CO₂ is variable both for southern Siberia on the whole and for particular deposits from this region.     

The Nuheting deposit,Erlian Basin,NE China: Synsedimentary to diagenetic uranium mineralization

Sedimentary units deposited during the post-rift stage of the Erlian Basin located in northeast China present an alternation of sandstone and mudstone layers. This sedimentological architecture is at the origin of confined permeable reservoirs hosting sandstone-type uranium deposits. The study of the Nuheting deposit offered the opportunity to identify synsedimentary/early diagenetic uranium concentrations and diagenetic mineralization hosted in mudstone-dominated layers of the Erlian Formation, indicating that a stock of uranium was present in the basin prior to the genesis of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits. Therefore, this pre-existing stock may constitute a significant source of uranium for the formation of roll front deposits present in other parts of the Erlian Basin.Detailed petrographic and geochemical study of drill-core samples from the Nuheting deposit led to the characterization of different stages related to the formation of the uranium ore bodies and allowed to propose a new metallogenic model. Uranium mineralization of the Nuheting deposit is mainly hosted in dark gray silty mudstone of wetland depositional environment of the Late Cretaceous Erlian Formation. Petrographic observations and EMP analyses evidenced that a significant amount of uranium was associated with clay minerals (interstratified clays, smectite, chlorite, palygorskyte, illite and kaolinite), either adsorbed on mineral surfaces as U (VI) ions or reduced mainly as UO₂ nano to microcrystals disseminated in the clayey matrix, which corresponds to synsedimentary/early diagenetic concentrations. Trace elements on pyrite analyzed by LA-ICPMS, petrographic observations and whole-rock geochemical data led to the characterization of a diagenetic uranium mineralization. High As (1–50 ppm), Mo (10–500 ppm) and Se concentrations in the whole rock and the incorporation of these elements in pyrite highlight reducing conditions within the host-rocks during the diagenesis of the Erlian Formation. During the early diagenetic stage, uranium was either desorbed from clay minerals and organic materials to be reduced or directly reduced and precipitated as P-rich coffinite and pitchblende on pyrite crystals. During the late diagenetic stage, uranium was redistributed in situ and locally deposited mainly as coffinite on pyrites. Finally, an epigenetic stage of cementation was identified with sulfate and carbonate minerals, which may enclose some uranium minerals. This epigenetic stage of fluid circulation may be responsible for a minor uranium remobilization. Therefore, the Nuheting deposit experienced three main stages: (i) a synsedimentary/early diagenetic uranium concentration and mineralization, (ii) a late diagenetic in situ uranium remobilization and deposition on pyrite and (iii) an epigenetic cementation. Rock-Eval pyrolysis indicates that the organic matter contained in host-rocks of the Nuheting deposit is of type IV, inherited from land plant, and do not contain free hydrocarbons (very low S1). Therefore, our results do not support that migrated hydrocarbons were involved as a reducing agent for uranium mineralization.     

Assessment of uranium in correlation with physico-chemical properties of drinking water of Northern Rajasthan

In the present study, analysis of 238U concentration in 40 drinking water samples collected from different locations of Jodhpur, Nagaur, Bikaner and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, India has been carried out by using high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (HR-ICP-MS) technique. The water samples were taken from hand pumps and tube wells having depths ranging from 50 to 800 feet. The measured uranium concentration lies in the range from 0.89 to 166.89 μg l^-1 with the mean value of 31.72 μg l^-1. The measured uranium content in twelve water samples was found to be higher than the safe limit of 30 μg l^-1 as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO, 2011) and US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA, 2011). Radiological risk calculated in the form of annual effective dose estimated from annual uranium intake ranges from 0.66 to 138.63 μSv y^-1 with the mean value of 26.28 μSv y^-1. The annual effective dose in two drinking water samples was found to be greater than WHO (2004) recommended level of 100 μSv y^-1. Chemical risk calculated in the form of lifetime average daily dose (LAAD) estimated from the water samples varies from 0.02 to 4.57 μg kg^-1 d^-1 with the mean value of 0.87 μg kg^-1 d^-1. The lifetime average daily dose (LAAD) of ten drinking water samples was found to be greater than WHO (2011) recommended level of 1 μg kg^-1 d^-1. The corresponding values of hazard quotient of 48% water samples were found to be greater than unity.A good positive correlation of uranium concentration with total dissolved solids (TDS) and conductance has been observed. However no correlation of uranium concentration with pH was observed. The results revels that uranium concentration in drinking water samples of the study area can cause radiological and chemical threat to the inhabitants.     

Geostatistical analysis on the spatial variation of radiogenic elements in the crystalline basement of Grenville Province in the southwestern Québec

Accurate assessment of deep geothermal resources remains a challenge from the practical point of view. Parameter uncertainties and partial knowledge of initial conditions limit the prediction of subsurface temperatures using a variety of thermal models strongly unreliable, and the temperature is highly dependent on the radiogenic heat production in the geological layers mainly affected by a number of factors including the concentrations of uranium, thorium and potassium, and rock density. In this paper, geostatistical methods were applied to investigate the spatial distribution of radiogenic elements (e.g., uranium, thorium, potassium) and their corresponding concentrations and radiogenic heat production. A representative region measuring 35 km?×?80 km in the southwestern Québec, and covering the domains of Portneuf-Mauricie, Morin Terrane and Parc des Laurentides in the Grenville Province was selected for this study because of its easy accessibility. Analysis results show that the concentrations of uranium, thorium and potassium for most rocks of the Grenville basement in the research region are in the range of 1–2 ppm, 3–10 ppm and 1–4%, respectively. Furthermore, 90% of the total samples analysed in this study show a uranium concentration of less than 3 ppm, 64% of the samples show a thorium concentration of less than 5 ppm, and 56% of the samples show a potassium concentration of less than 3%. This paper engaged both the ordinary kriging interpolation and sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS) methods to study the spatial distribution of radiogenic elements. Using density data for specific rocks, the distribution of radiogenic heat production in the study area of the southwestern Grenville Province was also simulated using the SGS method. Conclusively, results show that the difference between the minimum and the maximum value of radiogenic heat production is 30%, considering a significant proportion of heterogeneity in rock density.     

Evaluation of lead isotopic methods for uranium exploration, Koongarra Area, Northern Territory, Australia

Analysis of radioactive (²¹⁰Pb) and stable lead isotopes in near-surface samples has been tested as a method of uranium exploration in the Pine Creek Geosyncline, Northern Territory, Australia. The lead isotopes were extracted from the samples by a mild leaching agent and were measured by alpha spectrometry for ²¹⁰Pb and by mass spectrometry for stable lead isotopes. The results are compared with those obtained by conventional methods utilizing measurements of radioactivity and radon (Track Etch) in situ and ²²⁶Ra, ²²⁸Ra and U contents of soils. The major problems addressed were whether the lead isotopic methods are more sensitive than the conventional methods and whether they can discriminate “real” anomalies from the common barren anomalies found in black soils and swamps which contain radium in excess of the uranium present.Four test areas, representing a range of exploration problems, were chosen in the vicinity of the Koongarra uranium deposits and 25 samples from each area were analyzed. Most samples have more ²²⁶Ra than uranium. Radium analyses of several water samples show the source of this radium to be non-uraniferous rocks within the Kombolgie sandstone. The results for soil ²²⁶Ra, radon, scintillometry and ²¹⁹Pb were generally closely correlated, and as a result, the ²¹⁰Pb method was not considered to have any advantages over the conventional methods.At the Koongarra X prospect, which has a weak surface expression, the ratio gave the strongest indication of the underlying uranium mineralization with an anomaly to background ratio of 12.5. However, this ratio is correlated with uranium content and does not offer any particular advantages over uranium analyses alone. More subtle indications of uranium mineralization were found by relating the radiogenic lead (²⁰⁶Pb) and the thorium-derived lead (²⁰⁸Pb) to the common lead content (²⁰⁴Pb). A plot of versus (horizontal axis) is linear for country rock samples, irrespective of the amount of more recently introduced ²²⁶Ra. Samples above uranium mineralization lie off this trend, along a line of near-zero slope. By the use of this plot, indications were found of the Koongarra No. 2 orebody, which is concealed by about 40 m of barren overburden; none of the other techniques detected this mineralization.     

高分异花岗岩浆可能是华南花岗岩型铀矿床主要铀源——来自诸广山南体花岗岩锆石铀含量的证据

锆石的U-Pb测年、Hf和O同位素及稀土、微量元素的研究与应用已获得诸多进展,但锆石中铀含量所蕴藏的地质意义却较少被关注。华南花岗岩型铀矿床的铀源一直存在争议,不同观点认为其分别来自早期已固结地质体、分异岩浆、地幔柱或热点以及U、Th、K富集圈。为尝试利用锆石中的铀含量来追索铀源,本文通过搜集诸广山南体花岗岩锆石U-Pb同位素测年文献,掌握了该花岗岩中14个岩体、37件样品、3种岩性,共467个锆石定年数据。通过数据分析发现印支期(253Ma、244Ma)和燕山期(139Ma、124Ma)具高分异特征的4件酸性岩脉(小岩体)样品中锆石的铀含量明显高于同期岩体。依据铀矿床中高分异酸性岩脉(小岩体)侵位期、基性岩脉侵位期、铀成矿早期(140~90Ma)三者的良好对应关系,结合这一锆石铀含量指示,初步认为华南花岗岩型铀矿床中铀可能主要来自高分异花岗岩浆;推测花岗岩型铀成矿可能属壳幔混合作用结果,即铀源来自地壳分异岩浆,成矿流体和矿化剂主要来自地幔,而成矿空间受断裂系统控制。岩体锆石铀含量或可在铀源丰度、矿床品位判别等方面发挥积极作用。     

鄂尔多斯盆地东北部直罗组内碎屑锆石和铀矿物赋存形式简析及其对铀源的指示

鄂尔多斯盆地作为中国重要的多种能源共生的大型盆地,发育了大量的砂岩型铀矿床。本次工作选择盆地东北部纳岭沟铀矿床作为研究对象,在直罗组含矿段附近采取5个砂岩样品进行碎屑锆石U-Pb定年,并针对含矿样品进行电子探针分析。该地区直罗组含矿段碎屑锆石U-Pb年龄集中分布于5个阶段:(2479±11)Ma~(2460±19)Ma、(2300~1950)Ma、(1896±21)Ma~(1820±32)Ma、(316~266)Ma及165 Ma。同时,本文整理了鄂尔多斯盆地北部造山带内古老变质基底、孔兹岩带和晚古生代侵入岩时代,并发现在直罗组内获得的碎屑锆石年龄与北部造山带内地质体所记录的年龄相一致。结合前人地球化学及古地理研究,本次工作推断纳岭沟地区直罗组砂岩沉积物最终来自于鄂尔多斯盆地北部造山带。纳岭沟铀矿床内铀矿赋存形式主要为存在于碎屑颗粒内部、黏土矿物周边、黄铁矿周边和炭屑裂隙内部。结合野外地质体放射性异常测量,本次工作认为铀源主要来自于沉积成岩阶段含铀碎屑颗粒的预富集和后期高放射性异常地质体通过含铀含氧水向盆地内部的迁移。     

测定水浸土壤样的水中氦找铀矿方法的研究

本文讨论了利用离子泵测氦仪,测定水浸土壤样的水中氦的找铀矿方法。通过十项浸泡条件及测量试验,确定了处理土壤样的水浸技术。在矿床上取样分析的结果表明,在陡倾角地层的条件下,壤中氦异常出现在深部铀矿化范围的水平投影位置上,说明该方法对寻找隐伏铀矿是有效的,可用于地表详测等找矿工作。     

Chemical and Sr isotopic characterization of North America uranium ores: Nuclear forensic applications

This study reports major, minor, and trace element data and Sr isotope ratios for 11 uranium ore (uraninite, UO_2+x) samples and one processed uranium ore concentrate (UOC) from various U.S. deposits. The uraninite investigated represent ores formed via different modes of mineralization (e.g., high- and low-temperature) and within various geological contexts, which include magmatic pegmatites, metamorphic rocks, sandstone-hosted, and roll front deposits. In situ trace element data obtained by laser ablation-ICP-MS and bulk sample Sr isotopic ratios for uraninite samples investigated here indicate distinct signatures that are highly dependent on the mode of mineralization and host rock geology. Relative to their high-temperature counterparts, low-temperature uranium ores record high U/Th ratios (>1000), low total rare earth element (REE) abundances (<1 wt%), high contents (>300 ppm) of first row transition metals (Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni), and radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (>0.7200). Comparison of chondrite normalized REE patterns between uraninite and corresponding processed UOC from the same locality indicates identical patterns at different absolute concentrations. This result ultimately confirms the importance of establishing geochemical signatures of raw, uranium ore materials for attribution purposes in the forensic analysis of intercepted nuclear materials.     

Laser fluorometric analysis of plants for uranium exploration

A preliminary test of biogeochemical exploration for locating uranium occurrences in the Marfa Basin, Texas, was conducted in 1978. Only 6 of 74 plant samples (mostly catclaw mimosa, Mimosa biuncifera) contained uranium in amounts above the detection limit (0.4 ppm in the ash) of the conventional fluorometric method. The samples were then analyzed using a Scintrex UA-3 uranium analyzer^* - an instrument designed for direct analysis of uranium in water, and which can be conveniently used in a mobile field laboratory. The detection limit for uranium in plant ash (0.05 ppm) by this method is almost an order of magnitude lower than with the fluorometric conventional method. Only 1 of the 74 samples contained uranium below the detection limit of the new method. Accuracy and precision were determined to be satisfactory. Samples of plants growing on mineralized soils and nonmineralized soils show a 15-fold difference in uranium content; whereas the soils themselves (analyzed by delayed neutron activation analysis) show only a 4-fold difference. The method involves acid digestion of ashed tissue, extraction of uranium into ethyl acetate, destruction of the ethyl acetate, dissolution of the residue in 0.005% nitric acid, and measurement.     

Use of 234U and 238U isotopes to evaluate contamination of near-surface groundwater with uranium-mill effluent: a case study in south-central Colorado, U.S.A.

The ²³⁴U/²³⁸U alpha activity ratio (AR) was determined in 47 samples of variably uraniferous groundwater from the vicinity of a uranium mill near Cañon City, Colorado. The results illustrate that uranium isotopes can be used to determine the distribution of uranium contamination in groundwater and to indicate processes such as mixing and chemical precipitation that affect uranium concentrations. Highly to moderately contaminated groundwater samples collected from the mill site and land immediately downgradient from the mill site contain more than 100?μg/l of dissolved uranium and typically have AR values in the narrow range of 1.0–1.06. Other samples from the shallow alluvial aquifer farther downgradient from the mill contain 10–100?μg/l uranium and plot along a broad trend of increasing AR (1.06–1.46) with decreasing uranium concentration. The results are consistent with mixing of liquid mill waste (AR≈1.0) with alluvial groundwater of small, but variable, uranium concentrations and AR of 1.3–1.5. In the alluvial aquifer, the spatial distribution of wells with AR values less than 1.3 is consistent with previous estimates of the probable distribution of contamination, based on water chemistry and hydrology. Wells more distant from the area of probable contamination have AR values that are consistently greater than 1.3 and are indicative of little or no contamination. The methodology of this study can be extended usefully to similar sites of uranium mining, milling, or processing provided that local geohydrologic settings promote uranium mobility and that introduced uranium contamination is isotopically distinct from that of local groundwater.     

铀矿床定年研究进展评述

往往由于铀矿物(沥青铀矿)颗粒细小、易蚀变成铀的次生矿物及多期铀矿化作用相互叠加等在组成和结构上的固有特点,通常难以用挑选铀矿物(沥青铀矿)样品溶样的传统定年方法精确确定其形成年龄。随着分析技术的不断更新和发展,对铀矿床成矿年代学的研究也不断深入。但受铀矿床中铀矿物U-Pb定年方法本身的制约,以及以往对铀矿物U-Pb定年体系中铀矿物样品要求认识的不足,常常导致获得的年龄无实际地质意义或无法获得理想的等时线年龄。本文针对铀矿化定年方法的发展历程进行了系统梳理和分析,评述了铀矿物定年的五种主要方法:(1)铀矿物U-Th-totalPb化学年龄;(2)铀矿物模式年龄;(3)铀矿物传统等时线年龄;(4)铀矿物矿伴生矿物年龄;(5)原位微区铀矿物U-Pb年龄。在此基础上,深入探讨了铀矿化作用定年研究中存在的问题和对应方案,期望促进未来铀矿床成矿年代学的发展。