Man-made plutonium in freshwater and marine environments

Abstract

Significant concentrations of plutonium isotopes are found in lake and coastal marine sediments accumulating at rates of 1-5 mm/yr. The activity levels of ^{239, 240}Pu range between 0.7-3.3 dpm/g for post 1960 sediments. The measured and the calculated integrated activities of ²³⁹Pu in the lake sediments are in agreement. This suggests that plutonium is chemically reactive in freshwater environments and it is removed to sediments from the water column shortly after its injection. A delay of about three years has been observed between the peak of plutonium fallout and its incorporation in the varved sediment from Santa Barbara basin. Based on this observation the mean size of particles transporting plutonium to the basin sediments is estimated to be about three microns. The usefulness of plutonium isotopes as a tracer nuclide for estimating sedimentation rates for the last two decades have been evaluated.