Stratigraphic records and inventories of anthropogenic ²³³U and ²³⁶U in Baltic Sea sediments

Autor(en)

Jixin Qiao, Yiyao Cao, Vesa Pekka Varttic, Peter Steier

Abstrakt

This work reports the first comprehensive observation for the distribution of 233U and 236U in sediment cores collected from the major basins across the Baltic Sea. In addition to 233U and 236U, this study encompassed the analysis of 137Cs, 239Pu and 240Pu in the same sediment core samples. Depth profiles of 233U and 236U in Baltic Sea sediments indicate that 233U or global fallout (GF)-derived 236U is a useful time marker, in addition to 239+240Pu, to identify the onset of the Anthropocene epoch. Based on the cumulative areal inventories reported previously for water columns and investigated herein for sediment cores, our estimated overall inventories of 233U and 236U in the present Baltic Sea water and sediment are about 18 ± 6 g and 2010 ± 547 g, respectively, with >80 % accumulated in the Baltic seabed (i.e., 16 ± 6 g of 233U and 1694 ± 522 g of 236U, respectively). The total budget for nuclear reactor (NR)-derived 236U in the Baltic seabed is estimated to be 683 ± 223 g. Despite covering only 13 % of the total area, the hypoxic regions (325 ± 64 g) reserve a nearly equivalent amount of NR-derived 236U as the oxygenated regions (358 ± 159 g), highlighting the significance of the hypoxic regions in retaining NR-derived 236U. With a multi-radionuclide approach, this work contributes to a more thorough understanding on distribution and accumulation of anthropogenic uranium in the Baltic Sea.

Organisation(en)

Isotopenphysik

Externe Organisation(en)

Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Zhejiang CDC), Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority

Journal

Science of the Total Environment

Band

901

Anzahl der Seiten

9

ISSN

0048-9697

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.166402

Publikationsdatum

11-2023

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

103014 Kernphysik, 104020 Radiochemie

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Environmental engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Waste Management and Disposal, Pollution

Link zum Portal

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/ce3ac12c-03f6-42b1-b06c-1880a284af85