anyone that can tell what goes on in the ring formation would also help.
Surely it's chemical/mechanical damage. Alphas bouncing off nuclei until they run out of steam, and then stealing electrons from atoms and making new ions out at the out-of-steam radius are both going to do some damage to crystal structure in the host mineral. Enough alpha particles from a bit of uranium, and one can see the damage.
I'm betting the YEC response will sound like, "Yeah,
now alpha energy and half-life correlate inversely, but back during Teh Fludde......"
"The wretched world lies now under the tyranny of foolishness; things are believed by Christians of such absurdity as no one ever could aforetime induce the heathen to believe." - Agobard of Lyons,
ca. 830 AD