Fallout in the New York metropolitan area following the chernobyl accident

High-resolution historical records from Pettaquamscutt River basin sediments: 1. 210Pb and varve chronologies validate record of 137Cs released by the Chernobyl accident

“…At some European sites, the deposition of Chernobyl 137 Cs provided another datable horizon in the sediments, characterized in some cases by an even greater inventory than that resulting from the bomb tests (Dominik and Span, 1992;Ehlers et al, 1993;Callway et al, 1996;Gevao et al, 1997). Several studies reported the passage of the Chernobyl plume over the United States (Bondietti and Brantley, 1986;Larsen et al, 1986;Dibb and Rice, 1988;Feely et al, 1988). Surface air measurements conducted by the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) following the announcement of the reactor explosion revealed simultaneous appearance of elevated radioactivity in both the eastern and western United States (Larsen et al, 1986).…”

“…By May 2, the plume had reached the UK and Japan, and by May 6, Canada and the United States (Ayoama et al, 1986;Smith and Clark, 1986;Mould, 2000). Even though 137 Cs was detected in the atmosphere in several regions of the United States following the accident (Larsen et al, 1986;Feely et al, 1988;Holloway and Liu, 1988), no record of a clear Chernobyl 137 Cs peak is observed in sediments from Florida (Robbins et al, 2000), Massachusetts (Spliethoff and Hemond, 1996), California (Fuller et al, 1999) or other locations in the country (Van Metre et al, 1997). However, a discernible Chernobyl 137 Cs peak in varved sediments from Nicolay Lake, Cornwall Island in the Arctic Ocean (Lamoureux, 1999) implies that insufficient depth resolution and/or bioturbation may explain the absence of the Chernobyl peak in some of the aforementioned sites.…”

8. Atmospheric, Water, and Soil Contamination after Chernobyl

“…As noted earlier, radionuclide air dispersion may occur secondarily as a result of forest fires. (Larsen and Juzdan, 1986;US EPA, 1986;Toppan, 1986;Feely et al, 1988;Gebbie and Paris, 1986;Vermont, 1986) Radionuclide…”

Molecular and isotopic records of combustion inputs to the environment over the last 250 years

“…Several studies reported the passage of the Chernobyl plume over the United States (Bondietti and Brantley, 1986;Larsen et al, 1986;Dibb and Rice, 1988;Feely et al, 1988). Surface air measurements conducted by the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (EML) following the announcement of the reactor explosion revealed simultaneous appearance of elevated radioactivity in both the eastern and western US (Larsen et al, 1986).…”

“…By May 2, the plume had reached the UK and Japan, and by May 6, Canada and the United States (Ayoama et aI., 1986;Smith and Clark, 1986;Mould, 2000). Although 13Cs was detected in the atmosphere in several regions of the United States following the accident (Larsen et aI., 1986;Feely et al, 1988;Holloway and Liu, 1988), there is no known record of a Chernobyl I3CS peak in recent sediments from Florida (Robbins et aI., 2000), Massachusetts , California (Fuller et al, 1999) or other locations in the country (Van Metre et aI., 1997).…”