Plutonium Isotopes Research in the Marine Environment: A synthesis

Abstract

Plutonium (Pu) isotopes are one of most important artificial radionuclides. Recent advances in analytical methodology of Pu have enabled Pu to play a vital role in tracing biogenic elements and pollutants transport, sediment deposition/resuspension and other marine process. The various ratios of Pu isotopes (238Pu, 239Pu, 240Pu and 241Pu), which are depende nt on the Pu sources, are useful for identifying the contributions from different sources, and these ratios can be utilized to indicate the marine processes. The aim of this manuscript is to provide an overview of the applications of Pu for studying various processes in the marine environment, such as the determination of recent sedimentation rate, to assess sediment transport and deposition/resuspension, water mass transport, etc, based on the knowledge and advances in the analytical methodology and the geochemical behavior of Pu. Furthermore, this work is expected to provide new insights for broadening the application of Pu in the marine environment and to help better understand land-sea interactions and global climate change.