A Recent History of 14C, 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am Accumulation at Two Irish Peat Bog Sites: An East versus West Coast Comparison
Issue Date
2001-01-01Keywords
depositionAm 241
americium
radioactive fallout
patterns
pollutants
lead
Pb 210
Ireland
cesium
alkali metals
Cs 137
actinides
mires
bogs
peatlands
pollution
metals
Europe
Western Europe
C 14
carbon
isotopes
radioactive isotopes
geochemistry
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Gallagher, D., McGee, E. J., & Mitchell, P. I. (2001). A recent history of 14C, 137 Cs, 210 Pb, and 241Am accumulation at two Irish peat bog sites: An east versus west coast comparison. Radiocarbon, 43(2B), 517-525.Journal
RadiocarbonDescription
From the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Jerusalem, Israel, June 18-23, 2000.Additional Links
http://radiocarbon.webhost.uits.arizona.edu/Abstract
Data on radiocarbon (14C), 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am levels in an ombrotrophic peat sequence from a montane site on the east coast of Ireland are compared with data from a similar sequence at an Atlantic peatland site on the west coast. The 14C profiles from the west and east coasts show a broadly similar pattern. Levels increase from 100 pMC or less in the deepest horizons examined, to peak values at the west and east coast sites of 117 +/0.6 pMC and 132 +/0.7 pMC, respectively (corresponding to maximal fallout from nuclear weapons testing around 1964), thereafter diminishing to levels of 110-113 pMC near the surface. Significantly, peak levels at the east coast site are considerably higher than corresponding levels at the west coast site, though both are lower than reported peak values for continental regions. The possibility of significant 14C enrichment at the east coast site due to past discharges from nuclear installations in the UK seems unlikely. The 210Pb(ex) inventory at the east coast site (6500 Bq m-2 is significantly higher than at the west coast (5300 Bq m-2) and is consistent with the difference in rainfall at the two sites. Finally, 137Cs and 241Am inventories at the east coast site also exceed those at the west coast site by similar proportions (east:west ratio of approximately 1:1.2).Type
Proceedingstext
Language
enISSN
0033-8222ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1017/S0033822200041175