Abstract
The annual fluxes of artificial radionuclides ( 238Pu, 239+240Pu, 241Am, 137Cs, 90Sr and 3H) from the atmosphere to the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica were determined from measurements in strata dated by 210Pb. Recognizable sources include the U.S. tests (Mike-Ivy and Castle Hill) in the early 1950s, the U.S.S.R. tests of the early 1960s, the SNAP-9A burnup of 1964 and the French and Chinese tests in the late 1960s and 1970s. There are several problems still awaiting resolution: the differences in atmospheric chemistries of fission products and of transuranics produced in weapons tests and the anomalous fluxes of 238Pu to the ice shelf which do not appear to reflect a one-year stratospheric residence. There is no evidence for a smearing of the fallout record as a consequence of diffusion of these radionuclides in the glacial column.
Published Version
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