Northern Ocean Inventories of Radionuclide Contamination: GIS Efforts to Determine the Past and Present State of the Environment in and Adjacent to the Arctic

Crane, Kathleen; Galasso, Jennifer; Brown, Clare; Cherkashov, Georgy; Ivanov, G. I.; Vanstain, Boris

doi:10.1016/s0025-326x(00)00084-9

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Containment dams and storage ponds have been constructed to try to limit release of large quantities of contaminants downstream. Elevated levels of strontium-90 were observed in the 1960-1980 period (Crane et al 2000). Recent data for the Ob estuary show levels of caesium-137 that are similar to the global background (AMAP 1998), although Crane et al (2000) noted that caesium-137 levels are greater than the global background in the Angara, Yenisey and Ob rivers and in the Kara and Barents Seas.…”

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…As with heavy metals, there are both natural and human sources of radioactive materials. Human sources include fallout from atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons, accidents and releases from nuclear facilities, loss of nuclear-powered vessels and emissions from stored or dumped radioactive wastes (AMAP 1998;Crane et al 2000). Of these, atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, banned since 1980, has been the largest source of global radioactive contamination.…”

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nuclear fuel reprocessing plants in the United Kingdom and France have released radionuclides into the marine environment, which have been transported to the Arctic by currents (AMAP 1998;Crane et al 2000). The most significant of these have been from Sellafield, on the north-western coast of England, principally in the mid-to-late 1970s, and mainly in the form of caesium-137 (Kershaw & Baxter 1995;Gray et al1995).…”

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The solid wastes were mostly dumped in fjords at Novaya Zemlaya, while the liquids were discharged into the Kara and Barents Seas (AMAP 1998, p. 591). However, levels of radionuclides in the Kara Sea are low (Povinec et al 2000) and, away from the immediate locality of dumped materials, doses to marine organisms are expected to be low (AMAP 1998;Crane et al 2000).…”

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Substantial quantities of radioactive wastes have been released into rivers from reprocessing plants and as a result of accidents within Russian river catchments that lead into the Kara Sea region of the Arctic Ocean (e.g. the Ob and Yenisey; AMAP 1998; Crane et al 2000). Containment dams and storage ponds have been constructed to try to limit release of large quantities of contaminants downstream.…”

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Polar marine ecosystems: major threats and future change

2003

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This review of polar marine ecosystems covers both the Arctic and Antarctic, identifying the major threats and, where possible, predicting their possible state(s) in 2025. Although the two polar regions are similar in their extreme photoperiod, low temperatures, and in being heavily influenced by snow and ice, in almost all other respects they are very different. The Arctic Ocean is a basin surrounded by continental landmasses, close to, and influenced by, large populations and industrial activities. In contrast, the Southern Ocean is contiguous with all the other great oceans and surrounds a single land mass; Antarctica is remote from major centres of population and sources of pollution. Marine environments in both polar regions have been highly disturbed by fishing activity, but, in terms of pollution, some areas remain among the most pristine in the world. There are, however, both local and global pressures. Over the 2025 time horizon, the greatest concern for the Arctic is probably the ecological implications of climate change, particularly insofar as sea ice extent and duration are likely to be affected. Such changes are not expected to be as pronounced in the Southern Ocean over this time period, and concerns are related more to direct threats from harvesting of marine living resources, and the ability to manage these fisheries sustainably. In both polar regions, the capacity of marine ecosystems to withstand the cumulative impact of a number of pressures, including climate change, pollution and overexploitation, acting synergistically is of greatest concern.

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Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Radioactivitymentioning

confidence: 99%