Tracking the Fate of Particle Associated Fukushima Daiichi Cesium in the Ocean off Japan.

A three year time-series of particle fluxes is presented from sediment traps deployed at 500 and 1000 m at a site 115 km southeast of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP). Results show a high fraction of lithogenic material and mass flux peaks that do not align between the trap depths, suggesting a lateral source of sediments. Fukushima cesium-137 and cesium-134 were enhanced in flux peaks that, given variations in trap (137)Cs/(210)Pbex ratios, are characteristic of material derived from shelf and slope sediments found from <120 to >500 m.

Chernobyl radionuclides in a Black Sea sediment trap.

The Chernobyl nuclear power station accident released large quantities of vaporized radionuclides, and, to a lesser extent, mechanically released small (less than 1-10 micron) aerosol particles. The total release of radioactivity is estimated to be out of the order of 1-2 x 10(18) Bq (3-5 x 10(7) Ci) not allowing for releases of the xenon and krypton gases. The 137Cs releases of 3.

East Pacific Rise Near 13{degrees}N: Geology of New Hydrothermal Fields.

Abundant massive sulfide deposits are present at the crest of the East Pacific Rise near 13 degrees North, where the opening rate is about 12 centimeters per year. Large manganese and helium-3 anomalies in seawater samples, evidence of intense present-day activity of hydrothermal springs, indicate that sulfides are still being produced along this segment of the rise. Massive sulfides also occur on adjacent off-axis seamounts.