In the event radionuclides are accidentally introduced into an estuary, many isotopes would become adsorbed on suspended particles of clay or silt; others would be incorporated into living cellular material (Caritt and Goodgal, 1954; Rice and Willis, 1959). Oysters and other filter feeders in these estuaries are capable of filtering from suspension large quantities of the suspended solids, as well as the larger living cellular material (Haven and Morales-Alamo, 1966a). Ingested material along with the associated radionuclides would be voided as compacted fecal strings or pellets (biodeposits). Many of these fecal pellets may be alternately suspended in the water mass or deposited on the bottom during a single tidal cycle (Haven and Morales-Alamo, 1968).
The present paper investigates how particles in the sand or clay size range, along with adsorbed radionuclides, may be mixed into subsurface deposits
