On the contamination of the Atlantic Ocean and its seas

The results of measuring concentrations of Sr-90 and Cs-137 in water and bottom sediments of the Atlantic Ocean and its seas during 1971-1975 are given. It was found that atmospheric fallout of long-lived debris were the main contamination source of the ocean during these years. For separate seas (the Irush Sea, the North Sea) a continuous increase of the concentration of artificial radioactive products due to nuclear industry wastes reached the levels much higher than the global contaminations level. There is a general trend towards an equalization of the concentrations of radioactive products within the entire Atlantic scale both in the surface layer and in depth. The concentration of long-lived radionuclides (strontium-90, cesium-137) as well as of tritium is noted to 2-3 times increase at depths down to 5000 m as compared to 1963-1964