A return to the nuclear waste dumping sites in the bays of Novaya Zemlya

Dahle, S.; Savinov, Vladimir M; Carroll, JoLynn; Vladimirov, M. V.; Ivanov, G. I.; Valetova, N.K.; Gaziev, Ya.I.; Dunaev, G.; Kirichenko, Z.; Никитин, А. И.; Petrenko, G.I.; Polukhina, A.M.; Kalmykov, Stepan N.; Алиев, Р. А.; Sabodina, M. N.

doi:10.1051/radiopro/20095054

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 1 publication

(1 reference statement)

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“…S6). On a global scale, higher and Dachs, 2007a) and from 0.01 to 0.8 cm s −1 in coastal areas (Holsen and Noll, 1992;Bozlaker et al, 2008;Esen et al, 2008;Eng et al, 2014); the higher values were observed in concentrated industrial and urban areas (Bozlaker et al, 2008). In our study, the highest V d values were observed in the Barents Sea; the other three seas had similar V d values (p > 0.05) that were lower than in the Barents Sea except for 9-methylfluorene and 1,7-dimethylfluorene.…”

Section: Pahs In the Atmosphere And Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmosphere–ocean exchange of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic Ocean

Abakumov

Xie

2019

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can greatly influence biotic activities and organic sources in the ocean. However, fluxes of these compounds as well as their fate, transport, and net input to the Arctic Ocean have not been thoroughly assessed. During April–November of the 2016 “Russian High-Latitude Expedition”, 51 air (gases, aerosols, and wet deposition) and water samples were collected from the Russian Arctic within the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, the Laptev Sea, and the East Siberian Sea. Here, we report on the Russian Arctic assessment of the occurrence of 35 PAHs and 9 metals (Pb, Cd, Cu, Co, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Hg) in dry and wet deposition as well as the atmosphere–ocean fluxes of 35 PAHs and Hg0. We observed that Hg was mainly in the gas phase and that Pb was most abundant in the gas phase compared with the aerosol and dissolved water phases. Mn, Fe, Pb, and Zn showed higher levels than the other metals in the three phases. The concentrations of PAHs in aerosols and the dissolved water phase were approximately 1 order of magnitude higher than those in the gas phase. The abundances of higher molecular weight PAHs were highest in the aerosols. Higher levels of both heavy metals and PAHs were observed in the Barents Sea, the Kara Sea, and the East Siberian Sea, which were close to areas with urban and industrial sites. Diagnostic ratios of phenanthrene/anthracene to fluoranthene/pyrene showed a pyrogenic source for the aerosols and gases, whereas the patterns for the dissolved water phase were indicative of both petrogenic and pyrogenic sources; pyrogenic sources were most prevalent in the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea. These differences between air and seawater reflect the different sources of PAHs through atmospheric transport, which included anthropogenic sources for gases and aerosols and mixtures of anthropogenic and biogenic sources along the continent in the Russian Arctic. The average dry deposition of ∑9 metals and ∑35 PAHs was 1749 and 1108 ng m−2 d−1, respectively. The average wet deposition of ∑9 metals and ∑35 PAHs was 33.29 and 221.31 µg m−2 d−1, respectively. For the atmosphere–sea exchange, the monthly atmospheric input of ∑35 PAHs was estimated at 1040 t. The monthly atmospheric Hg input was approximately 530 t. These additional inputs of hazardous compounds may be disturbing the biochemical cycles in the Arctic Ocean.

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Section: Pahs In the Atmosphere And Oceanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmosphere–ocean exchange of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic Ocean

Abakumov

Xie

2019

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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“…3 ). Besides nuclear tests, various types of nuclear waste have been buried in soil and shores of Novaya Zemlya [ 27 , 28 ]. Data on soil radioactive contamination in Novaya Zemlya is scarce [ 29 ], but contaminated areas are reported at least near nuclear waste dumping sites [ 28 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Besides nuclear tests, various types of nuclear waste have been buried in soil and shores of Novaya Zemlya [ 27 , 28 ]. Data on soil radioactive contamination in Novaya Zemlya is scarce [ 29 ], but contaminated areas are reported at least near nuclear waste dumping sites [ 28 ]. A large part of the taiga bean goose population thus gathers annually to an area that has exposed the population to the direct effects of detonations, nuclear fallouts and leaks of nuclear waste.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birds of three worlds: moult migration to high Arctic expands a boreal-temperate flyway to a third biome

2021

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Background Knowledge on migration patterns and flyways is a key for understanding the dynamics of migratory populations and evolution of migratory behaviour. Bird migration is usually considered to be movements between breeding and wintering areas, while less attention has been paid to other long-distance movements such as moult migration. Methods We use high-resolution satellite-tracking data from 58 taiga bean geese Anser fabalis fabalis from the years 2019–2020, to study their moult migration during breeding season. We show the moulting sites, estimate the migratory connectivity between the breeding and the moulting sites, and estimate the utilization distributions during moult. We reveal migration routes and compare the length and timing of migration between moult migrants and successful breeders. Results All satellite-tracked non-breeding and unsuccessfully breeding taiga bean geese migrated annually to the island of Novaya Zemlya in the high Arctic for wing moult, meaning that a large part of the population gathers at the moulting sites outside the breeding range annually for approximately three months. Migratory connectivity between breeding and moulting sites was very low (rm = − 0.001, 95% CI − 0.1562–0.2897), indicating that individuals from different breeding grounds mix with each other on the moulting sites. Moult migrants began fall migration later in autumn than successful breeders, and their overall annual migration distance was over twofold compared to the successful breeders. Conclusions Regular moult migration makes the Arctic an equally relevant habitat for the taiga bean goose population as their boreal breeding and temperate wintering grounds, and links ecological communities in these biomes. Moult migration plays an important role in the movement patterns and spatio-temporal distribution of the population. Low migratory connectivity between breeding and moulting sites can potentially contribute to the gene flow within the population. Moult migration to the high Arctic exposes the population to the rapid impacts of global warming to Arctic ecosystems. Additionally, Novaya Zemlya holds radioactive contaminants from various sources, which might still pose a threat to moult migrants. Generally, these results show that moult migration may essentially contribute to the way we should consider bird migration and migratory flyways.

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“…Radionuclide concentrations in aquatic ecosystems in sea areas nearby Novaya Zemlya have been well investigated. For instance, Russian researchers (Matishov et al 1994a , 2020 , 2021 ), a joint long-term Norwegian-Russian co-operation (JRNEG 1994 , 1996 ; Strand et al 1994 ; Salbu et al 1997 ; Dahle et al 2009 ; JNREG 2014 ; Gwynn et al 2016 ; Heldal et al 2018 ), Polish-Russian co-operation (Matishov et al 1994b ; Szczypa and Reszka 1998 ), and Finnish-Russian co-operation (Matishov et al 1995 , 2011 ; Leppänen et al 2013 ) have improved knowledge about radioecology in these aquatic ecosystems. It has been found in these studies that radionuclide concentrations in aquatic environment in Russian Arctic regions have been generally at a low level, not significantly deviating from the radioactivity levels due to global fallout.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

137Cs and isotopic ratios of Pu and U in lichens and mosses from Russian Arctic areas

Dutheil

Paatero

Rodushkin

et al. 2023

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Knowledge of past anthropogenic sources of radionuclide contamination in Russian Arctic areas is important to assess the radioecological situation of these less-studied regions. Therefore, we investigated the sources of radionuclide contamination in Russian Arctic in the 1990s. Lichen and moss samples were collected from 1993 to 1996 in Kola Peninsula, Franz Josef Land, and few other locations. The activity concentration of 137Cs was determined from the archived samples by gamma spectrometry in 2020. After radiochemical separation of Pu and U isotopes from the lichens and mosses, mass ratios 240Pu/239Pu, 234U/238U, 235U/238U, and 236U/238U were determined by mass spectrometry. 137Cs activity concentrations at the sampling date were found to vary from 3.1 ± 1.4 (Inari, Finnish-Russian border) to 303 ± 7 (Kola Peninsula) Bq/kg. The ranges of isotopic ratios were 0.0592 ± 0.0007 to 0.253 ± 0.082 for 240Pu/239Pu, (4.89 ± 3.91) × 10−5 to (6.86 ± 0.04) × 10−5 for 234U/238U, 0.0072104(21) to 0.007376(41) for 235U/238U, and from below 1 × 10−7 to (2.65 ± 0.19) × 10−6 for 236U/238U, respectively. Based on the measured isotopic ratios and characteristic isotopic ratios of known contamination sources, the main Pu and U sources in the sampled lichens and mosses are global fallout, the Chernobyl accident, and possibly local nuclear activities. These results contribute to further understanding of past nuclear events and resulting nuclear contamination in Russian Arctic terrestrial areas.

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A return to the nuclear waste dumping sites in the bays of Novaya Zemlya

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

Atmosphere–ocean exchange of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic Ocean

Atmosphere–ocean exchange of heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Russian Arctic Ocean

Birds of three worlds: moult migration to high Arctic expands a boreal-temperate flyway to a third biome

137Cs and isotopic ratios of Pu and U in lichens and mosses from Russian Arctic areas

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