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Man-made plutonium radioisotopes in the salt lakes of the Crimean peninsula

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Abstract

Investigations of 239+240Pu and 238Pu in the surface layer (0–5 cm) of bottom sediment in the Crimean 10 salt lakes from 4 geographical groups were carried out for the first time. The 239+240Pu varied widely between regional geographical groups of lakes as well as within groups too and ranged from 11±4 to 451±43 mBq239+240Pu/kg. The highest levels of 239+240Pu—419±27, 443±24 and 451±43 mBq/kg were observed in the Yevpatoriya (Lake Kyzyl-Yar), the Tarkhankut (Dzharylhach) and the Kerch group (Tobechik), respectively. The lowest values of 239+240Pu were identified in three lakes of the Perekop group and were 20±12, 24±6 and 48±6 mBq/kg. In all lakes 238Pu was an order of magnitude lower than 239+240Pu and varied from 4.8±2.6 to 30.7±5.5 mBq/kg. The 238Pu activity was decay-corrected to 1986. The characteristic ratio of the 238Pu/ 239+240Pu activities in the sediment and percentage of the Chernobyl-derived Pu was calculated. The largest percentages of the Chernobyl-derived Pu were observed in the Evpatoriya group (Lake Sasyk-Sivash)—16.2%±8.26%, the Tarkhankut group (Dzharylhach)—8.4%±2.10% and the Kerch group (Aktash)—10.5%±5.56%. The study of the depth distribution of plutonium in the Lake Kyzyl-Yar bottom sediment core (0–25 cm) was fulfilled. It was shown that 239+240Pu was high enough in all studied layers of bottom sediment, but the highest activity ratio 238Pu/ 239+240Pu (0.062±0.020) was found in the deepest layer of 15–20.5 cm and the percentage of Chernobyl-derived Pu was estimated at 6.8%±2.85% in this layer.

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Acknowledgement

Investigation on the Crimean salt lakes was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Grant No. 16-05-00134. Investigation on the Black Sea areas was carried out within the framework of the state assignment on the direction of scientific research “The study of the mechanisms of adaptation, transformation and evolution marine and ocean ecosystems under climate change and anthropogenic influence” No. 1001-2014-0013.

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  1. The A. O. Kovalevsky Institute of Marine Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sevastopol, 299011, Russian Federation

    Nataliya N. Tereshchenko, Vladislav Yu Proskurnin, Artem A. Paraskiv & Olga D. Chuzhikova-Proskurnina

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  1. Nataliya N. Tereshchenko
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  2. Vladislav Yu Proskurnin
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Correspondence to Nataliya N. Tereshchenko.

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Tereshchenko, N.N., Proskurnin, V.Y., Paraskiv, A.A. et al. Man-made plutonium radioisotopes in the salt lakes of the Crimean peninsula. J. Ocean. Limnol. 36, 1917–1929 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-018-7312-5

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