Radiocaesium and 210Pb in Clyde sea loch sediments |
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| Authors: | DS Swan MS Baxter IG McKinley W Jack |
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| Institution: | Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K.;Department of Natural Philosophy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, U.K. |
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| Abstract: | Analysis of 210Pb, 226Ra, 137Cs and 134Cs in short sediment cores provide first estimates of deposition rates in some Clyde sea lochs. The radio-caesium nuclides originate mainly in the liquid effluent released at distance from the Clyde by the Windscale nuclear fuel reprocessing plant and their concentrations in Clyde sediments provide information on (a) enrichment factors onto particulate matter, (b) surficial mixing coefficients and (c) sedimentation rates. A radiocaesium residence time in coastal waters of ca. 103 years reflects the importance of scavenging by the high nearshore particulate flux. 210Pb levels in sediments are controlled, in the unsupported fraction, by a major input sorbed on catchment particulates and, in the supported component, by 226Ra activities occasionally perturbed by unusually high surface values probably of planktonic origin. In one loch, detectable levels of 134Cs and 60Co are attributed to their discharge by nuclear submarines. |
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| Keywords: | radioactivity sediments sedimentation rates biological mixing residence time Clyde sea lochs |
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