An investigation of factors influencing the concentration of trace metals in the bottom sediments of the Forth estuary

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The distribution of artificial radionuclides in the English Channel, southern North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat, 1990–1993

International audienceThis paper presents the initial results concerning the distribution of artificial radionuclides from research cruises conducted in collaboration by three European institutes as part of an EEC MAST research project. Ten cruises were undertaken covering the English Channel, southern and eastern North Sea, Skagerrak and Kattegat over a period of 2.5 yr. A large number of analyses of four artificial radionuclides (13'Cs, "Tc, '*%b, !%r), which behave conservatively in seawater, provided information about the general distribution of water masses and circulation patterns as well as about single transport events in the study area. Controlled liquid releases from the La Hague nuclear fuel reprocessing plant are transported eastwards, forming a characteristic distribution pattern in the Channel and the southern North Sea. This includes a near-coastal "plume" and a distinct boundary between waters contaminated predominantly by La Hague and by Sellafield. Spatial and temporal distributions of radionuclide ratios were used, for the first time, to calculate transit times from the English Channel to the coast of Jutland. The data published herein provide an essential input to the calibration of numerical models simulating water transport processes. The results demonstrate the continuing usefulness of artificial radionuclides as oceanographic tracers, even at the very low concentrations observed at present in northwest European Shelf waters

Changing patterns of radionuclide distribution in Irish Sea subtidal sediments

This paper presents new data on the distribution of long-lived radionuclides in Irish Sea subtidal sediments, contaminated as a result of the BNFL Sellafield discharges. The results from different sampling campaigns in 1999 have been combined to assess the extent of radionuclide mobility relative to earlier surveys, in both the eastern and western Irish Sea areas, and to investigate changes in radionuclide distribution over time. The results appear to confirm the trend of continuing re-distribution and transfer of contamination away from the English coast. West of the Isle of Man, radionuclide concentrations and inventories have remained more or less constant. The inventory of radionuclides in sandy sediments in the eastern Irish Sea is still under-represented by current sampling, but could be improved by deeper and more extensive vibrocoring

Accumulation, solid partitioning and remobilisation of 99Tc in subtidal and intertidal sediments in the Irish Sea

Recent studies have shown that accumulation of 99Tc in seabed sediments labelled by authorised radioactive liquid discharges into the NE Irish Sea from the Sellafield reprocessing complex is greater than previously thought. In this paper, new data on 99Tc concentration profiles in subtidal and intertidal sediments from the eastern and western Irish Sea are provided with a view to elucidating the processes responsible for the incorporation and retention of 99Tc in the seabed. The data show that substantial amounts of 99Tc have accumulated in the fine-grained subtidal sediments off the Cumbrian coast, particularly after increased releases from Sellafield following the commissioning of the Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant (EARP) in 1994. In all the cores taken in this area, 99Tc has been found to be present to depths in excess of 30 cm. Analysis of 137Cs and 241Am profiles, together with other supporting geochemical data, show a high degree of homogenisation of the sediments down to these depths as a result of physical and biological processes, and confirm that incorporation of 99Tc into the sediment compartment is actually the result of mixing and reworking, rather than active sediment accumulation. In contrast, active deposition of material transported from this mixed pool of sediment appears to be the dominant mechanism controlling 99Tc profiles in intertidal areas close to the Sellafield discharge outfall. Data obtained from the analysis of subtidal sediment cores from the western Irish Sea mud basin suggest that similar mixing processes to those occurring in the subtidal sediments of the eastern Irish Sea are also active in this area. Time-series data on 99Tc concentrations in surficial sediments from this basin, gathered in the period 1988-2004, inclusive, show a clear increase in concentrations, by a factor of ∼2, between samples collected pre-EARP and post-EARP. The constancy of 99Tc concentrations in surface sediments throughout the 1980s and the early-1990s suggests that little redissolution and export of 99Tc occurred over this extended period. A similar observation applies to the post-EARP period, when concentrations remained relatively constant despite the reported steady decrease in 99Tc concentrations in the overlying waters. This apparent lack of remobilisation is consistent with data from sequential extraction analyses, which indicate that the bulk of the 99Tc is strongly bound to non-labile geochemical phases, with only a small proportion associated with exchangeable and acido-soluble phases. Further, these analyses show that 99Tc is not associated with oxygen-sensitive and highly-reactive acid-volatile sulphides (AVS) to any significant extent. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved