Qualitative Distribution of Radionuclides
years after contamination by fallout from a thermonuclear device indicates distinct differences between the terrestrial and marine environments. The
levels of radioactivity are low, the concentrations
being less than the maximum permissible concentra-

Cole, D.W., S.P. Gessel, and E.E. Held.
glacial till soils.

Dunning, G.M. (ed.).

The principal nuclides in the land plants and plant-

eating animals such as coconut crabs and the
indigenous rats are cesiur-137 and, to a lesser
degree, strontium-90. Bottom sediments contain
mainly strontium-90 and europium-155. The radiobuclides in the lagoon water have not been detected
but are probably present in minute amounts. Plank-~
tonic organigms contain traces of manganese-54,
cobalt-57,60, zinc-65, zirconium-95, ruthenius-106
and cerium-144.

The principal nuclide found in the

marine algae is cerium-l144.
In the marine invertebrates cobalt-60 and zinc-65 occur most commonly.
Corals and coralline algae contain some strontiun90, while the fish and sea birds are found to contain mostly zinc-65. The presence of zinc-65,
cesium-137, and strontiua-90 in the body of the na~tives reflects a diet of both marine and terrestrial origin.

Use

Soil Sci. 25: 321-325.

1957.

Radioactive contamination

of certain areas in the Pacific Ocean froe nuclear
tests.
U. 9. Atomic Energy Commission, U. 8.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
60

Of the wide spectrum of radionuclides concen-

trated in the surface layers of the soil, strontium-90, antimony-125, and cesium-137 are the prin-~
cipal nuclides entering into the soil solution.

1961.

of the tension lysimeter in coral atoll and

tion for radionuclides in food or drinking water of

man.

Page 169

PP.

Posberg, F.R.
1959.
Long-term effects of radioactive
fallout on plants.
Atoll Research Bulletin No.
61.
National Academy of Sciences-National Research Council, Washington, D.C.
11 pp.

---.

1959.

Plants and fallout.

1448.

Held, Z.E.

1960.

Nature 193(4673):

Land crabs and fission products at

Eniwetok Atoll.

Pacific Sci. 14(1): 18-27.

Miller, C.F., and P. Loeb. 1958.
Ionization rate and
photon pulee rate of fission products from slow

neutron fission of U235.

U. S$. Naval Radiological

Defense Laboratory, San Francisco,

USNRDL-TR-247.

Robinson, M.K.

91 pp.

1954.

islands area.

al paper 2860-D.

report

Sea temperature in the Marshall

U. 8. Geological Survey profession-

pp. 381-291

Stone, W.3., M.R. Wheeler, W.P. Spencer, F.D. Wilson,

J.T. Nevenschwander, T.G. Gregg, R.L. Seecof, and

C.L. Ward, 1957.

ACENOWLEDGMENTS

Genetic studies of irradiated

natural populations of Drosophila.

This work was performed under contract number
AT(45-1)540 between the U. S. Atomic Energy Conmission and the University of Washington.

the

netic:

f£ Drosophila.

S7f1e pe86-316.
Von Arx, ¥.8.

1954.

Rongelap lagoons.

Cohn, 8.H., J.S. Robertaon, and R.A. Conard.

1960.

Radioisotopes and environmental circumstances:

The internal radioactive contamination of a

Pacific island community exposed to local fallout.

In R.8. Caldecott and L.A. Snyder (eds.), Radjo-

isotopes in the Biosphere, Univ. of Minnesota
rinting Dept.,

Minneapolis. pp.

306-330.

,

”

Publ.

Circulation systems of Bikini and
U. 8. Geological Survey profes-

eional paper 260-5.
Walker,

Ia

Univ. of Texas,

pp. 265-273.

R.B., E.E. Held, and 8. P. Gessel.

1961.

Radiocesium in plants grown on Rongelap Atoll
soils.
In Recent Advances in Botany, Proc. of the
9th
.
- Congr., Univ. of Toronto Press,
Toronto, Canada.

pp.

1363-1367.

Weiss, H.V., and W.L. Shipman.
1957.
Biological concentration by killer clams of cobait-60 froa

radioactive fallout.

Science 125(3250): 695.

Select target paragraph3