PNNL

Abstract

In his comment on our paper “Iodine-129 and Iodine-127 Speciation in Groundwater at Hanford Site, U.S.: Iodate Incorporation into Calcite”, Lu specified three concerns for Zhang et al’s study,1 including (1) precipitation mechanism (degassing vs freezing), (2) analytical methods, and (3) mass balance control. In response, comparative and comprehensive discussions on the precipitation mechanisms and iodine incorporation can be found in the paper, as well as below. This includes additional experiments of iodine distribution and speciation in calcite precipitates. In addition, the measurements of total iodine in soils/sediment were clarified below as well. The calculations on mass balance in this comment were clarified by using correct data sets. Lu proposed that freezing samples