| 1. |
- López Lora, Mercedes, et al.
(författare)
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Plutonium Signatures in a Dated Sediment Core as a Tool to Reveal Nuclear Sources in the Baltic Sea
- 2023
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Ingår i: Environmental Science and Technology. - : AMER CHEMICAL SOC. - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 57:5, s. 1959-1969
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Plutonium distribution was studied in an undisturbed sediment core sampled from the Tvaren bay in the vicinity of the Studsvik nuclear facility in Sweden. The complete analysis, including minor isotopes, of the Pu isotope composition (238Pu, 239Pu, oPu, 241Pu, 242Pu, and 244Pu) allowed us to establish the Pu origin in this area of the Baltic Sea and to reconstruct the Studsvik aquatic release history. The results show highly enriched 239Pu, probably originating from the Swedish nuclear program in the 1960s and 1970s and the handling of high burn-up nuclear fuel in the later years. In addition, the 244Pu/239Pu atomic ratio for the global fallout period between 1958 and 1965 is suggested to be (7.94 +/- 0.31)center dot 10-5. In the bottom layer of the sediment, dated 1953-1957, we detected a higher average 244Pu/239Pu ratio of (1.51 +/- 0.11)center dot 10-4, indicating the possible impact of the first US thermonuclear tests (1952-1958).
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| 2. |
- López Lora, Mercedes, et al.
(författare)
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U-236, Np-237 and Pu-239,Pu-240 as complementary fingerprints of radioactive effluents in the western Mediterranean Sea and in the Canada Basin (Arctic Ocean)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - : ELSEVIER. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 765
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this study was to assess the potential of combining the conservatively behaving anthropogenic radionuclides U-236 and Np-237 to gain information on the origin of water masses tagged with liquid effluents from Nuclear Reprocessing Plants. This work includes samples collected from three full-depth water columns in two areas: i) the Arctic Ocean, where Atlantic waters carry the signal of Sellafield (United Kingdom) and La Hague (France) nuclear reprocessing facilities; and ii) the western Mediterranean Sea, directly impacted by Marcoule reprocessing plant (France). This work is complemented by the study of the particle-reactive Pu isotopes as an additional fingerprint of the source region. In the Canada Basin, Atlantic waters showed the highest concentrations and Np-237/U-236 ratios in agreement with the estimated values for North Atlantic waters entering the Arctic Ocean and tagged with the signal of European Nuclear Reprocessing Plants. These results may reflect the impact of the documented releases for the 1990s. In the Mediterranean Sea, an excess of U-236 presumably caused by Marcoule is reflected in the lower Np-237/U-236 ratios compared to the Global Fallout signal in all the studied samples. On the contrary, the Pu-239,Pu-240 profiles were mainly governed by the Global Fallout. The impact of Marcoule as a local source is further corroborated when comparing the temporal evolution of these ratios between 2001 and 2013. The lowest Np-237/U-236 ratios observed in 2001 at the surface reflect a previous local input that is no longer observed in 2013 as it had been homogenized through the whole water column. This work presents the use of Np-237 as a new ocean tracer. A more accurate characterization of the main sources is still needed to optimize the use of U-236-Np-237 as a new tool to understand transient oceanographic processes. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Luis Mas, Jose, et al.
(författare)
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Analysis of a major Aeolian dust input event and its impact on element fluxes and inventories at the DYFAMED site (Northwestern Mediterranean)
- 2020
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Ingår i: Marine Chemistry. - : ELSEVIER. - 0304-4203 .- 1872-7581. ; 223
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Continental dust can be suspended and transported by the wind, reaching seawater masses far away from its source. The deposition of the aerosols on the ocean surface can alter the abundance of chemical species in the water column and contribute to element inventories in seafloor sediments. A major Saharan dust intrusion into the Western Mediterranean Sea was recorded at the DYFAMED site (Ligurian Sea) in 20th February 2004. We determined the influence of this dust event on the concentration of 30 minor and trace level elements (TE) in sinking particles collected by sediment traps deployed at 200 m and 1000 m depth, and how a dust flux event like this contributed to the exchange of TE, including Fe, with the water column during major dust events. With coupled sediment traps and aerosol samples, we assessed the short-term implications of dust events in the water column. The event produced a flux of fast (>111 m d(-1)) and slow ( < 20 m d(-1)) sinking dust particles, detected during 3 weeks at 200 m and 4 weeks at 1000 m depth. Additionally, the obtained results of element concentrations and particles flux show that a single dust deposition event can produce a sinking flux equivalent to annual deposition rates of elements relevant to biogeochemical cycles and/or pollution studies: (>60% for Cr and Cu, >70% for Al, > 80% for Ni and Zn, > 90% for V and Mn, > 100% for Fe and Pb). The corresponding Enrichment Factors (EF) for the minor and TE analyzed in the sediment traps during the dust event were calculated. EF was used to determine how minor and trace element concentrations in sinking particles vary. The values ranged between 0.35 and 421 in both 200 m and 1000 m sediment traps. For most of the analyzed elements, the obtained EF values were higher than 1. On the contrary, V, Y, Zr, Nb, and Ce showed EF similar to 1 while Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Pb showed EF < 1. Despite the variability in the EF values, vertical fluxes integrated during the dust deposition event increased from 200 m to 1000 m, except for I, which decreased. This contrasts strongly with the element fluxes integrated for the complete sampling period, which decrease or increase from 200 m to 1000 m, depending on the element. This suggests that sinking dust particles were acting generally as sinks of the TE. We conclude that, apart from I, a substantial portion of the elements from atmospheric dust input from a single deposition event can reach the mesopelagic layer of the Western Mediterranean basin without increasing the budget of those elements in the water column.
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