Radiocarbon in Vegetation of coastal Zone of Finnish Bay (Russia)

Abstract

Radiocarbon is a radioactive isotope of carbon, which is forming in the nature constantly by interaction of cosmic fast neutrons and nitrogen nuclei at the low atmospheric layers. Another source of radiocarbon in the environment is pollution in processes of Nuclear Power Plant exploitation. The expanding construction of nuclear industrial plants and nuclear power stations on the shores of the Baltic Sea is creating a real possibility for the introduction of radioactive wastes into environment of Finnish Bay basin. The activity of radiocarbon in the plant of coastal zone was determined by a system of Sample Oxidizer 307 and low-level liquid scintillation system Quantulus 1220 (Wallace, Turku, Finland) The Radiocarbon analysis is a sensitive tool for the registration of pollution. The variations of radiocarbon concentration in the one-years grasses can be used as an indicator of carbon dioxide pollution of the urban environment. The variation of radiocarbon in tree-rings reflects the local and global radioactive contaminations.