Tracer Applications of Anthropogenic Iodine-129 in the North Atlantic Ocean.

I (t(1/2)=15.7 x 10(6)y) has been released to the oceans in large quantities (over 5 times the pre-existing natural inventory) by nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities in northwestern Europe since the 1960's. (129)I was measured by AMS in 11 archived seawater samples (collected from 1969 to 1981...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Edmonds, Henrietta N.
Other Authors: MASSACHUSETTS INST OF TECH CAMBRIDGE
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1997
Subjects:
Organic Chemistry
Biological Oceanography
Hydrology
Limnology and Potamology
*SURFACE WATERS
*OCEANS
*NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN
*IODINE COMPOUNDS
EUROPE
FUNCTIONS
MEASUREMENT
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
VENTILATION
SAMPLING
TRANSPORT
IODINE
INVENTORY
PRODUCTIVITY
NUCLEAR ENERGY
REACTOR FUELS
SEA WATER
NORWEGIAN SEA
WATER MASSES
DEEP WATER
SOUTH(DIRECTION)
GREENLAND
CARBON TETRACHLORIDE
IODINE 129
Greenland
Norwegian Sea
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA330113
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA330113
Description
Summary:I (t(1/2)=15.7 x 10(6)y) has been released to the oceans in large quantities (over 5 times the pre-existing natural inventory) by nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities in northwestern Europe since the 1960's. (129)I was measured by AMS in 11 archived seawater samples (collected from 1969 to 1981) and 83 samples collected in 1993 from 9 stations in the southern Greenland and Norwegian Seas and the high latitude North Atlantic Ocean. Reprocessing-derived (129)I is evident in all of the major water masses sampled. The distribution of (129)I is markedly different from that of the chlorofluorocarbons freon-11 and carbon tetrachloride, reflecting the different nature of the source functions of the tracers. Modeled distributions of (129)I in the surface waters of the Barents, Greenland, and Norwegian Seas, agree well with observations. The most striking result of these models is their prediction that the biogeochemical transport of 129(I) to the deep waters studied cannot be distinguished from physical transport given current measurement capabilities. The use of 129(I) as a tracer of new production will require sampling of a slowly ventilated deep water mass underlying surface waters of high productivity and/or very high 129(I).

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