[en] Measurements of environmental radioactivity in Finland are described. (author)

[en] It has been found, that content of the tetravalent plutonium in the sediments present in the Gdansk Gulf exceeds these of the other valent states. Penta- and hexavalent plutonium appeared to be less reactive than tri- and tetravalent forms of plutonium present both in the mineral suspension and in the sediments. Future results of the determination of the plutonium forms: (a) water soluble, (b) carbonates, (c) oxides, (d) soluble in the mineral acids and (e) complexed by the organic matter will be discussed in terms of the pH, salinity and reductive properties of the sea water, as well as of place of the sediment sampling

[en] After World War II approximately 60 thousand tons of chemical munitions have been dumped in the Baltic Sea. Corrosion occurs due to chemical or electrochemical reactions between the environment and metal. Microbes change the electrochemical reaction at the biofilm/metal interface and either inhibit or accelerate the process of metal corrosion. Although the microbial inhibitory mechanism is environmentally friendly, the predictability of the results is not yet affirmed, as sometimes the same bacteria with an inhibitory property may also become aggressive. This review discusses mechanisms by which microbes may induce or inhibit corrosion in metals in specific condition of the Baltic Sea.

No abstract available

[en] The workshop paid a lot of attention to the ice climatology and modelling interrelating the different parts of the hydrological and meteorological problems. A special target of interest was concerned to comparisons between various models. The first session dealt with the Baltic Sea Ice Data Banks. The second session was concerning main results of Baltic Sea ice regime. The third session dealt with ice regime modelling and fourth about climate change and ice regime

[en] Short communication

[en] Older organic lagoon al, lacustrine, or paludal deposits underlie transgressive marine sediments in more than half a hundred localities in Estonia enabling the correlation of shorelines and marine sediments. Buried peat in an area of 1 hectare was analysed palynologically and dated by the ¹⁴C method. The Pre-Boreal pollen spectrum and two ¹⁴C dates (9216±70 and 9258±69 yr BP) suggest that in this region the Ancylus transgression reached its maximum about 9000-9200 years ago. (author). 2 figs

[en] Coastal dunes around the Baltic Sea have received small amounts of atmospheric nitrogen and are rather pristine ecosystems in this respect. In 19 investigated dune sites the atmospheric wet nitrogen deposition is 3-8 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1. The nitrogen content of Cladonia portentosa appeared to be a suitable biomonitor of these low to medium deposition levels. Comparison with EMEP-deposition data showed that Cladonia reflects the deposition history of the last 3-6 years. With increasing nitrogen load, we observed a shift from lichen-rich short grass vegetation towards species-poor vegetation dominated by the tall graminoid Carex arenaria. Plant species richness per field site, however, does not decrease directly with these low to medium N deposition loads, but with change in vegetation composition. Critical loads for acidic, dry coastal dunes might be lower than previously thought, in the range of 4-6 kg N ha^-1 yr^-1 wet deposition. - Even low to medium nitrogen deposition impacts Baltic dune vegetation promoting a dominance of taller graminoids

[en] The aim of presented study was to evaluate the three-spinned stickleback (Gasterosteus Aguleatus) as potential biomonitor of ²¹⁰Po content in the vicinity of mouth of the Vistula River and yacht port in Gdynia. The three-spinned stickleback was collected from the above areas. Fish was caught, samples were weighted and their total lengths was measured. The fish age was determined using sagittal otoliths. The ²¹⁰Po content was determined by α-spectrometry, following radiochemical separation. The U Mann-Whitney's test showed insignificant differences in ²¹⁰Po activity in samples originated from two various geographic regions. Based on the results of both U Mann-Whitney's test Spearman's rank correlations it seems that stickleback could be useful tool for monitoring because of the lack of the sex- and age-dependent influence on polonium concentration in the fish analysed

[en] The radioactive hazards of ¹²⁹I for human in the Baltic Sea region being are assessed. The amount of ¹²⁹I residing in the seawater is a main source of radiation exposure to human. The present annual dose equivalent of ¹²⁹I intake by the human is estimated to be 1 x 10^-8 Sv/year. Also, future dose estimation shows that the radioactivity hazardous impact on human being is not serious in short time period (<50 years), but it may exceed recommended limit after 50 years. (author)