Abstract
The research was focused on the level and distribution of 90Sr in various parts of the terrestrial environment of Spitsbergen. The mean activity concentrations were noted lower in peats and soils than in cryoconite. Analysis of vertical variation of 90Sr for soils and peats as well as isotopic ratios of 137Cs/90Sr and 239+240Pu/90Sr for cryoconite clearly showed substantial migration or depletion of the considered radionuclide. Due to the large dispersion of isotopic signatures, the 90Sr provenance was difficult to identify in the examined region. However, observed high mobility of the 90Sr might indicate the global fallout origin.
Highlights
The radioactive fission product 90Sr has a sufficient half-life (T1/2 = 28.8 y, E max = 546 keV) to be detected for a long time period after it has appeared in the environment
For the High Arctic terrestrial environment, the most significant release is associated with the stratospheric global fallout (GF) [1, 2, 48]; i.e., far-reaching radioactive contamination injected into the atmosphere during nuclear weapons testing (1945–1980)
The cryoconite was collected from each sampling site, whereas the soil and peat profiles were derived only from the Werenskiold area
Summary
For the High Arctic terrestrial environment, the most significant release is associated with the stratospheric global fallout (GF) [1, 2, 48]; i.e., far-reaching radioactive contamination injected into the atmosphere during nuclear weapons testing (1945–1980). Due to the different mode of the explosion, than during weapons testing, radiostrontium dispersion occurred in a relatively small range reaching mainly immediate vicinity of the Chernobyl. Cryoconite is a small size repository of a high level of pollutants on the glacier surfaces [9, 46] These aggregates of mineral and organic components are associated with biological consortia. The level of contamination in Spitsbergen appears to be lower than in temperate zones [10, 13, 15, 44] This is a simple consequence of the fact, that major human activities (e.g., production and release of radionuclides) took place outside of the polar region. Because of the limited knowledge in this area, the article provides scarce data on radiostrontium in various terrestrial ecosystems of Spitsbergen
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