Presence of uranium and plutonium in marine sediments from gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico

Uranium and plutonium were determined in the Tehua II-21 sediment core collected from the Gulf of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The analyses were performed using radiochemical separation and alpha spectroscopy. Activity concentrations of alpha emitters in the sediment samples were from 2.56 to 43.1 Bq/kg for 238U, from 3.15 to 43.1 Bq/kg for 234U and from 0.69 to 2.95 Bq/Kg for 239+240Pu. Uranium activity concentration in marine sediment studied is generally high compared with those found in sediments from other marine coastal areas in the world. The presence of relatively high concentrations of anthropogenic plutonium in the sediments from the Gulf of Tehuantepec suggests that anthropogenic radionuclides have been incorporated and dispersed into the global marine environment. (author)