Abstract
Regional indicators of the marine environment quality in the radiation aspect, that is, reference levels of radionuclides in seawater and bottom sediments, which provide an acceptable degree of ecological risk, have been developed to analyze radioecological conditions in the Kara Sea. Local concentration factors of 137Cs, 90Sr, 239, 240Pu, 241Am in biota and bottom sediments of the Kara Sea are estimated using long-term observations data. For the majority of representative organisms of the Kara Sea, the concentration factors of technogenic radionuclides differ from the reference values. Reference levels of 137Cs, 90Sr, 239, 240Pu, 241Am in water and bottom sediments of the Kara Sea have been calculated. The contamination index for both water and bottom sediments is several orders of magnitude lower than an environmentally safe level and also tends to decrease by 3 and 1.5 times, respectively, in 2004–2012 as compared to 1992–1996.
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Translated from Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya, 2023, No. 4, pp. 91-98. https://doi.org/10.52002/0130-2906-2023-4-91-98.
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Rosnovskaya, N.A., Kryshev, I.I., Kryshev, A.I. et al. Quality Indicators of the Marine Environment in Terms of the Radionuclide Activity Level for the Kara Sea Ecosystem. Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol. 48, 355–360 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373923040088
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373923040088