Abstract
[sup 129]I/[sup 127]I ratios measured in meteoric water and epiphytes from the continental United States are higher than those measured in coastal seawater or surface freshwater and suggest long-range atmospheric transport of [sup 129]I from the main source for the earth's surface inventory, viz., nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities. The median ratio for 14 meteoric water samples is 2100 [times] 10[sup [minus]12], corresponding to a [sup 129]I concentration of 2.5 [times] 10[sup 7] atoms/L, whereas 9 epiphyte samples have a median ratio of 1800 [times] 10[sup [minus]12]. Calculated deposition rates of [sup 129]I in the continental United States reveal that a small but significant fraction of the atmospheric releases from the nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities at Sellafield, England, and Cap de La Hague, France, is deposited after distribution by long-range transport. The inferred dominant mode of transport is easterly, within the troposphere, mainly in the form of the organic gas methyl iodide.
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