&
Qualitative Distribution of Radionuclides
years after contamination by fallout from a thermo-
puclear device indicates distinct differences be-
tween the terrestrial andmarine environments.
The
levels of radioactivity are low, the concentrations
being less than the maximum permissible concentration for radionuclides in food or drinking water of
man.
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.
The principai nuclides in the land plants and planteating animals such as coconut crabs and the
indigenous rats are cesium-137 and, to a lesser
degree, strontium-90. Bottom sediments contain
mainly strontius-90 and europium-155. The radio-
nuclides in the lagoon water have not been detected
but are probably present in minute amounts.
Planktonic organisms contain traces of manganese-54,
cobalt-57,60, zinc-65, zirconiua-95, ruthenium-106
and cerium-144. The principal nuclide found in the
marine algae is cerium-l44.
In the marine inverte-
brates cobalt-60 and zinc-65 occur most commonly.
Corals and coralline algae contain some strontius90, while the fish and sea birds are found to con~
tain mostly zinc-65. The presence of zinc-65,
cesium-137, and strontium-90 in the body of the na-~
tives reflects a diet of both marine and terrestrial origin.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was performed under contract number
AT(45-1)540 between the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and the University of Washtagton.
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