fr.
Adde ndum
A NOTE ON THE VEGETATION
OF THE NORTHERN ISLETS OF RONGELAP ATOLL, MARSHALL ISLANDS, MARCH 1959
B.S. BLUMBERG* AND R.A. CONARD
DOE ARCHIVES
Fosberg':? reported changes in the vegetation of
the northernislets of Rongelap Atoll (observed in
1956) which he inferred might have been associated with the radioactive fallout that occurred on
this atoll in 1954. During the medical survey of
the Rongelap people’ carried out in March 1959,
an opportunity arose to visit some oftheseislets
and to re-examinethe vegetation. A helicopter
was available for transportation, which permitted
general and detailed air examination as well as
two short ground surveys. The northern islets were
estimated to have received a radiation dose of
3000 r. The islets of Naen and Gegen were examined in greatest detail. The most striking feature observed from the air was the generally gray
color of muchof the vegetation, in contrastto its
*NationalInstitutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
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Figure A-1. Map of Rongelap Atoll showing position of majorislets.
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