Studies on the concentrations of iron-55 in South Pacific Ocean water and marine organisms and in the Columbia River. Progress report, 1 April 1975--31 March 1976

Progress is reported on studies of the distribution of iron-55 in the marine environment. Direct measurements of iron-55 in seawater and in zooplankton showed that marine organisms concentrate iron-55 in preference to stable iron. Measurements of iron-55 in Pacific sediments gave us an indication of the amount of iron-55 getting through the water column. Measurements in organisms from different depths in the ocean and the measurements in sediments give us a clearer picture of the rate of vertical transport in the ocean. It is also quite clear that the iron-55 in sediments in the equatorial Pacific are concentrated in a very thin surface layer because samples more than a centimeter below the surface were below detectable limits, whereas most surface samples had detectable amounts of iron-55. A series of treatments of Columbia River sediments with hydrochloric acid of strengths 0.1 M, 0.25 M, 1.4 M, 6 M and boiling 6 M respectively, showed that decreasing specific activity results in each subsequent treatment, indicating that the iron-55 can be leached more easily than stable iron. This observation provides some clues to what may be happening to particles in seawater. Organisms may remove from particles the more easily removable iron-55 of higher specific activity, leaving behind particles with a lower specific activity