EGU21-12997
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12997
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Determination of anthropogenic contamination by 137Cs, 240Pu/239Pu and 235U/238U in lichens and mosses from Russian Arctic areas 

Susanna Salminen-Paatero1, Paul Dutheil1,2,3, Timo Sundström1, Ilia Rodushkin4, and Jussi Paatero5
Susanna Salminen-Paatero et al.
  • 1Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (susanna.salminen-paatero@helsinki.fi)
  • 2Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland (paul.dutheil@psi.ch)
  • 3ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • 4ALS Scandinavia, Luleå, Sweden (ilia.rodushkin@alsglobal.com)
  • 5Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland (jussi.paatero@fmi.fi)

Lichen and moss samples were collected from Russian Arctic areas (Kola Peninsula, Franz Josef Land and few other locations) in the 1990s. In 2020, 137Cs was determined by HPGe gamma spectrometry from these samples after which isotopes of Pu and U were radiochemically separated from the samples. Mass ratios 240Pu/239Pu and 235U/238U were determined by ICP-MS for utilizing the characteristic isotopic fingerprints of different nuclear events. The aim of the work was to survey radioactive contamination sources in terrestrial environment in Russian Arctic regions, which have not yet been completely explored in respect to anthropogenic isotopes and their origin in the environment.

How to cite: Salminen-Paatero, S., Dutheil, P., Sundström, T., Rodushkin, I., and Paatero, J.: Determination of anthropogenic contamination by 137Cs, 240Pu/239Pu and 235U/238U in lichens and mosses from Russian Arctic areas , EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-12997, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-12997, 2021.