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Eniwetok with the North Equatorial Current at a rate of
approximately 7 to 10 miles per day.

Fallout areas in the

ocean from particular detonations have not been identified
as discrete areas of relatively high contamination within
the ocean but rather as low levels of contamination spread
over a wide area.
Radioisotopes in the ionic or colloidal form,

if

not taken up biologically, will move vertically at a slower
rate than radioisotopes incorporated into particulate matter,
because of gravitational force.

An estimate of the movement

of fallout materials through sea water was made at Eniwetok
during the 1958 test series from samples of sea water taken

6, 28 and 48 hours after detonation.

At six hours, the

‘greatest amount of fallout as measured by the radioactivity

of the water was at the surface and decreased rapidly to near

zero at a depth of 200 feet; at 28 hours, the highest value
was still at the surface,
decrease down to 200 feet;

put there was only a moderate
at 48 hours,

the values were low

at the surface and down to 200 feet but increased rapidly
from 200 feet to a maximum at 300 feet,

the thermocline (Lowman 1960).

which coineided with

Thus, in 28 to 48 hours the

largest fraction of the fallout materials had moved through

the stirred or mixed water layer,

the water above the thermo-

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