Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution
The release of legacy contaminants such as fallout radionuclides (FRNs) in response to glacier retreat is a process that has received relatively little attention to date, yet may have consequences as a source of secondary contamination as glaciers melt and down-waste in response to a warming climate...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:f26b59d29216439c89164388397d3934 2023-05-15T14:59:24+02:00 Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution C. C. Clason W. H. Blake N. Selmes A. Taylor P. Boeckx J. Kitch S. C. Mills G. Baccolo G. E. Millward 2021-11-01 https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5151/2021/tc-15-5151-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f26b59d29216439c89164388397d3934 en eng Copernicus Publications doi:10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5151/2021/tc-15-5151-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f26b59d29216439c89164388397d3934 undefined The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 5151-5168 (2021) envir geo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 2023-01-22T18:55:31Z The release of legacy contaminants such as fallout radionuclides (FRNs) in response to glacier retreat is a process that has received relatively little attention to date, yet may have consequences as a source of secondary contamination as glaciers melt and down-waste in response to a warming climate. The presence of FRNs in glacier-fed catchments is poorly understood in comparison to other contaminants, yet there is now emerging evidence from multiple regions of the global cryosphere for substantially augmented FRN activities in cryoconite. Here we report concentrated FRNs in both cryoconite and proglacial sediments from the Isfallsglaciären catchment in Arctic Sweden. Activities of some FRNs in cryoconite are 2 orders of magnitude above those found elsewhere in the catchment, and above the activities found in other environmental matrices outside of nuclear exclusion zones. We also describe the presence of the short-lived cosmogenic radionuclide 7Be in cryoconite samples, highlighting the importance of meltwater–sediment interactions in radionuclide accumulation in the ice surface environment. It is currently unknown whether high accumulations of fallout radionuclides in glaciers have the potential to impact local environmental quality through down-wasting and downstream transport of contaminants to the proglacial environment through interaction with sediments and meltwater. We thus recommend that future research in this field focusses on processes of accumulation of FRNs and other environmental contaminants in cryoconite and whether these contaminants are present in quantities harmful for downstream ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic The Cryosphere Unknown Arctic The Cryosphere 15 11 5151 5168 |
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language |
English |
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envir geo |
spellingShingle |
envir geo C. C. Clason W. H. Blake N. Selmes A. Taylor P. Boeckx J. Kitch S. C. Mills G. Baccolo G. E. Millward Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
topic_facet |
envir geo |
description |
The release of legacy contaminants such as fallout radionuclides (FRNs) in response to glacier retreat is a process that has received relatively little attention to date, yet may have consequences as a source of secondary contamination as glaciers melt and down-waste in response to a warming climate. The presence of FRNs in glacier-fed catchments is poorly understood in comparison to other contaminants, yet there is now emerging evidence from multiple regions of the global cryosphere for substantially augmented FRN activities in cryoconite. Here we report concentrated FRNs in both cryoconite and proglacial sediments from the Isfallsglaciären catchment in Arctic Sweden. Activities of some FRNs in cryoconite are 2 orders of magnitude above those found elsewhere in the catchment, and above the activities found in other environmental matrices outside of nuclear exclusion zones. We also describe the presence of the short-lived cosmogenic radionuclide 7Be in cryoconite samples, highlighting the importance of meltwater–sediment interactions in radionuclide accumulation in the ice surface environment. It is currently unknown whether high accumulations of fallout radionuclides in glaciers have the potential to impact local environmental quality through down-wasting and downstream transport of contaminants to the proglacial environment through interaction with sediments and meltwater. We thus recommend that future research in this field focusses on processes of accumulation of FRNs and other environmental contaminants in cryoconite and whether these contaminants are present in quantities harmful for downstream ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. C. Clason W. H. Blake N. Selmes A. Taylor P. Boeckx J. Kitch S. C. Mills G. Baccolo G. E. Millward |
author_facet |
C. C. Clason W. H. Blake N. Selmes A. Taylor P. Boeckx J. Kitch S. C. Mills G. Baccolo G. E. Millward |
author_sort |
C. C. Clason |
title |
Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
title_short |
Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
title_full |
Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
title_fullStr |
Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
title_full_unstemmed |
Accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on Isfallsglaciären (Arctic Sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
title_sort |
accumulation of legacy fallout radionuclides in cryoconite on isfallsglaciären (arctic sweden) and their downstream spatial distribution |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5151/2021/tc-15-5151-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f26b59d29216439c89164388397d3934 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
Arctic The Cryosphere |
op_source |
The Cryosphere, Vol 15, Pp 5151-5168 (2021) |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 1994-0416 1994-0424 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/15/5151/2021/tc-15-5151-2021.pdf https://doaj.org/article/f26b59d29216439c89164388397d3934 |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-5151-2021 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
15 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
5151 |
op_container_end_page |
5168 |
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1766331507586105344 |