Uranium record from a 3 m snow pit at Dome Argus, East Antarctica.

Abstract

Understanding the distribution and transport of Uranium is important because it can lead to both chemical and radiological toxicity. This study presents the Uranium concentrations time series from 1964 to 2009 obtained from a 3 m deep snow pit at Dome Argus, East Antarctic Plateau. The data shows that Uranium concentrations vary from 0.0067 pg g-1 to 0.12 pg g-1, with a mean concentration of 0.044 pg g-1. Its mean concentration is 2–3 folds lower than at West Antarctica study sites, such as the Antarctic Peninsula (mean 0.12 pg g-1), IC-6 (Ice Core-6) (mean 0.11 pg g-1) and a suite of ice cores from the US ITASE traverse. Before the mid-1980s, the varieties of Uranium concentrations are relatively stable, with a very low mean concentration of 0.016 pg g-1and its main source is sea salt deposition, while a small number of anthropogenic sources are likely to be caused by Uranium mining operations in South Africa. A remarkable increase of Uranium concentrations has occurred since the mid-1980s (by a factor of ~ 9) compared with the amount before the mid-1980s. This increase coincides with the Uranium records at IC-6 and Antarctic Peninsula (DP-07-01) during the same period, and are mostly attributed to Uranium mining operations in Australia as a potential primary anthropogenic Uranium source. Our observations suggest that Uranium pollution in the atmosphere might have already become a global phenomenon.