Abstract
The specific activity of 55Fe in plankton increased from below detectable limits at 20°N to a maximum of 130 nCi/g Fe at 20°S and then decreased to 5 nCi/g Fe at 50°S. Along an east-west track near 15°S a peak of 90 nCi/g Fe occurred at 135°W. It is suggested that this maximum is the result of fallout from French nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll (22°S; 139°W). The increase in 55Fe at high latitudes observed in previous studies in the North Atlantic Ocean and North Pacific Ocean did not occur in the South Pacific Ocean which supports the suggestion that belts of high tropospheric fallout accounted for the increase in the Northern oceans.
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Communicated by J.M. Pérès, Marseille
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Jennings, C.D. 55Fe in Pacific Ocean plankton. Marine Biology 44, 223–226 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00387703
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00387703