Physical Sciences: Radioactivity of Sea Water

Abstract

THERE still exists considerable uncertainty regarding the amount of radioactive elements present in sea water, the values found by different investigators varying between very wide limits. In general, a few units of 10^-12 gm. radium per litre is considered a fair average, although occasionally much higher values have been reported. As regards thorium, the estimates are still more uncertain, generally upper limits only of the content being given, whereas with uranium no sufficiently sensitive method for measuring this element existed until quite recently¹.