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Vertical profiles of 228Ra and 226Ra activities in the Sea of Japan and their implications on water circulation

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Abstract

We analyzed a total of 25 seawater samples collected from 2 columns within the Sea of Japan for 226Ra (half life 1,600 years) and 228Ra (half life 5.75 years) by employing low-background γ-spectrometry. The 228Ra activity level in the deep proper water (DPW) (~0.13 mBq/L) was found to be higher than that of deep waters from the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (<0.1 mBq/L), indicating its continuous delivery to the DPW by active water circulation before complete radioactive decay. Using a steady state box model of 226Ra and 228Ra, the turn-over time in the DPW was calculated to be ~80 years.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the researchers, captain, and crew of the R/V Soyo Maru for their assistance during sampling. This study was supported partly by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research No. 21510011 (M. Inoue) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Author notes

  1. M. Minakawa

    Present address: National Research Institute of Aquaculture, Fisheries Research Agency, Nakatsuhamaura, Minami-Ise, Mie, 516-0193, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Low Level Radioactivity Laboratory, Kanazawa University, Nomi, Ishikawa, 923-1224, Japan

    M. Inoue, K. Yoshida, Y. Nakano, H. Kofuji, S. Nagao, Y. Hamajima & M. Yamamoto

  2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Fisheries Research Agency, Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, 236-8648, Japan

    M. Minakawa

  3. Japan Marine Science Foundation, Minato, Mutsu, Aomori, 035-0064, Japan

    H. Kofuji

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  1. M. Inoue
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  2. M. Minakawa
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  3. K. Yoshida
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  4. Y. Nakano
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  5. H. Kofuji
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  6. S. Nagao
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  7. Y. Hamajima
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  8. M. Yamamoto
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Correspondence to M. Inoue.

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Inoue, M., Minakawa, M., Yoshida, K. et al. Vertical profiles of 228Ra and 226Ra activities in the Sea of Japan and their implications on water circulation. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 303, 1309–1312 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3492-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-014-3492-4

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