Distribution Study of U, V, Mo, and Zr in Different Sites of Lakes Van and Hazar, River and Seawater Samples by ICP-MS

The aim of this study is to investigate the concentrations of U, Th, V, Mo, and Zr in natural waters taken from Turkey. Among these water species, Lake Van is the largest soda lake and the fourth largest closed basin on Earth. The water samples were collected from 51 locations between 2008 and 2009. The inductively coupled plasma-MS was used for determinations. The obtained U and Zr concentrations are in the range of 37-110 mu g L(-1) and 17-78 mu g L(-1) in Lake Van and 0.53-0.81 mu g L(-1) and 0.15-0.19 mu g L(-1) in Lake Hazar, respectively. The concentration of uranium in other studied waters varies from the lowest 0.09 mu g L(-1) in Tigris (Dicle) river to the highest 4.0 mu g L(-1) in Mediterranean Sea water. Mean Mo and V concentrations in the studied water samples were found to be in ranges of 0.1-17 and 2.7-113 mu g L(-1), respectively. The obtained highest U concentration in Lake Van correlates with the highest Mo and Zr levels compared to the Lake Hazar and river waters. These results imply that there is a young occurrence of uranium minerals around Lake Van. It is concluded that there is about 50.000 ton of uranium in Lake Van water.