Abstract
239, 240Pu,137Cs and90Sr concentrations were determined in sea waters from the central and western North Pacific in 1980 and 1982. The results are consistent with those reported earlier for North Pacific waters. The profiles of90Sr and137Cs show a monotonic decrease with depth, whilst239, 240Pu shows a distinct subsurface maximum at a depth between 400 and 1,000 m.
The calculated inventories of these nuclides significantly exceed the global mean fallout inputs for these latitudes. This may be due to local fallout input to the ocean at times of large-scale nuclear weapon tests in the equatorial North Pacific.
The existence of measurable amounts of137Cs and239, 240Pu in deep waters suggests that these nuclides are transported by sinking particulate matter from the surface to the deep ocean.
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Nagaya, Y., Nakamura, K. 239, 240Pu,137Cs and90Sr in the central North Pacific. Journal of the Oceanographical Society of Japan 40, 416–424 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02303068
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02303068