ðə wˈɔːɾɚɹ ɪnsˈaɪd ɐn ˈɔɪl fˈiːld ɪz ˈɔfən vˈɛɹi ɹˈɪtʃ ɪn stɹˈɔntiəm, bˈɛɹiəm ænd ɹˈeɪdiəm wˌaɪl sˈiːwɔːɾɚɹ ɪz vˈɛɹi ɹˈɪtʃ ɪn sˈʌlfeɪt sˌoʊ ɪf wˈɔːɾɚ fɹʌm ɐn ˈɔɪl wˈɛl ɪz dɪstʃˈɑːɹdʒd ˌɪntʊ ðə sˈiː ɔːɹ mˈɪkst wɪð sˈiːwɔːɾɚ ðə ɹˈeɪdiəm ɪz lˈaɪkli təbi bɹˈɔːt ˌaʊɾəv səlˈuːʃən baɪ ðə bˈɛɹiəm slˈæʃ stɹˈɔntiəm sˈʌlfeɪt wˌɪtʃ ˈækts æz ɐ kˈæɹiɚ pɹɪsˈɪpᵻtˌeɪt.
The water inside an oil field is often very rich in strontium, barium and radium while seawater is very rich in sulfate so if water from an oil well is discharged into the sea or mixed with seawater the radium is likely to be brought out of solution by the barium/strontium sulfate which acts as a carrier precipitate.