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Wilflinger, T.; Lettner, H.; Hubmer, A.; Bossew, P.; Sattler, B.; Slupetzky, H., E-mail: herbert.lettner@sbg.ac.at2018
AbstractAbstract
[en] Highlights: • Highest radionuclide concentrations in environmental media can be found in cryoconites (aeolian sediments on glaciers), apart from nuclear test sites. • Radionuclide sources: Global fallout from nuclear weapons test and Chernobyl fallout. • Pu isotopes and Cs isotopes can be used to determine the contribution of either source. • Pu isotopes, 137Cs and 210Pb can be used to estimated the mixing age of cryoconites. • 210Pb alone as a proxy for mixing age estimation in case no other radionuclides are determined. - Abstract: Cryoconites (“cold dust”, derived from the Greek) are aeolian sediments accumulated on glacier surfaces. In cryoconites from the surface of the Stubacher Sonnblickkees, a temperate Austrian glacier, extremely high activity concentrations of artificial and natural radionuclides were found. Artificial radionuclides stem from two clearly distinguishable sources, global fallout from the nuclear weapons testing era deposited over a period of years until roughly 1966 and the fallout from Chernobyl in 1986, which was essentially deposited as a single input during one week. Anthropogenic radionuclides identified were 137Cs, 134Cs, 238Pu, 239+240Pu, 90Sr, 241Am, 60Co, 125Sb, 154Eu, and 207Bi. The naturally occurring radionuclides detected were the long-lived radon decay product 210Pb, the primordial radionuclide 4 K and the cosmogenic 7Be. Isotopic ratios of 134Cs/137Cs and 239+240Pu/238Pu were used to separate the nuclide inventory into the contributions of the two aforementioned sources, which show varying degrees of mixing and provide information on the mixing age of the cryoconites. Since isotopic ratios of Pu often have high uncertainties due to low absolute concentrations, age estimation based on this method can be quite inaccurate. Additional information about the age of cryoconites was obtained through analysis of 210Pb, which is constantly deposited over time.
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Source
S0265931X17303144; Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.06.020; © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Record Type
Journal Article
Journal
Country of publication
ACTINIDE NUCLEI, ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES, ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, AMERICIUM ISOTOPES, ANTIMONY ISOTOPES, BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, BETA-PLUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, BISMUTH ISOTOPES, CESIUM ISOTOPES, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS, ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES, EUROPE, EUROPIUM ISOTOPES, EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI, FALLOUT, HEAVY ION DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, HEAVY NUCLEI, HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES, INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI, INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES, ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES, ISOTOPES, LEAD ISOTOPES, MINUTES LIVING RADIOISOTOPES, NUCLEI, ODD-EVEN NUCLEI, ODD-ODD NUCLEI, PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES, RADIOISOTOPES, RARE EARTH NUCLEI, SILICON 32 DECAY RADIOISOTOPES, SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES, STRONTIUM ISOTOPES, WESTERN EUROPE, YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
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