Behavior of radiocesium (Cs) on the coastal seafloor near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant inferred from radiocesium distributions in long cores

Nakanishi, Takahiro; Tsuruta, Tadahiko; Misono, Toshiharu; Shiribiki, Takehiko; Urabe, Yoshimi*; Sanada, Yukihisa

Journal of Coastal Research, 116(SI), p.161 - 165, 2024/01

https://doi.org/10.2112/JCR-SI116-033.1

Continuous data of Cs-137 concentration in surface seabed sediment around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) from 2012 to 2022 was compiled and its temporal change was fitted by exponential function. In general, Cs-137 concentrations were gradually declining with time. However, at some monitoring points in shallow region, long half-lives and/or large deviations of Cs-137 concentrations were noticed. To gain insight into cesium dynamics in shallow seafloor, long sediment cores were collected at shallow region near the FDNPP, and the vertical profiles of Cs-137 concentration and particle size distribution were determined. At the beach, Cs-137 concentration and particle size distribution were very homogenized from several tens of cm to more than 1 m deep, probably due to strong vertical mixing by wind waves and tides. Therefore, beach sediments have significant Cs-137 reserves in deeper layers at present. It was suggested that the Cs-137 supply from deep layers as well as the land area might suppress the decline of surface Cs-137 concentration in this area. At sampling points located at the bases of cliffs and depressions at the offshore zone, the vertical distributions of Cs-137 concentration were highly heterogeneous, showing the particle size dependency. Moreover, Cs-137 profiles obtained at the same point for several years were quite different. Therefore, it might cause the large fluctuation of Cs-137 concentration at surface sediment over time.

Depositional processes of circular abandoned channels around the middle parts of the Kumano River, Southwest Japan

Nakanishi, Toshimichi*; Komatsu, Tetsuya; Ogata, Manabu; Kawamura, Makoto; Yasue, Kenichi*

Gekkan Chikyu "Kiso deta Kara Kangaeru Dai Yonkigaku No Shintenkai-I" Gogai No.71, p.148 - 155, 2022/02

The formation process of terrace topography was investigated by observing and analyzing boring core samples collected in the middle reaches of the Kumano River. It was assumed that the older terrace topography was distributed higher than the current riverbed surface. However, since tributary debris flow deposits may be thickly distributed beneath the old gyre river valley, care must be taken when using the surface of the ground as an index of uplift and erosion.

Grain size dependence of meteoric Be concentrations in bed-sediments of Ado and Yasu rivers flowing into Lake Biwa

Fujisawa, Jumpei*; Minami, Masayo*; Kokubu, Yoko; Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki*

JAEA-Conf 2018-002, p.91 - 94, 2019/02

https://doi.org/10.11484/jaea-conf-2018-002

Beryllium-10 (Be) of a cosmogenic nuclide precipitates in forms of BeO and Be(OH) attaching with aerosol on the Earth surface. It is accumulated on the sea- and lake-bottoms. Recently, the meteoric Be is attracting attention as a powerful tool for investigating the past climate change, because it is affected by the earth- and lorcal- cyclical changes of materials such as atmosphere and water circulation. The Be exists mostly as hydroxide at pH 5, and is easy to adhere to soil and mineral surface. Therefore, Be concentration in sediment could be influenced by its grain size composition because fine-grained sediment has a big surface area per unit mass. The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between Be concentrations and the grain-size of river sediments. The samples used were bottom-sediments of 18 rivers flowing into Lake Biwa, Japan. The sediments were sieved to 5 fractions and analyzed each for Be concentration by JAEA-AMS-TONO.

C and N values of sediment-trap particles in the Japan and Yamato Basins and comparison with the core-top values in the East/Japan Sea

Khim, B.-K.*; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Park, K.-A.*; Noriki, Shinichiro*

Ocean Science Journal, 53(1), p.17 - 29, 2018/03

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12601-018-0003-5

Distribution of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (C, N) in sinking particles collected in four stations in the Japan Sea was summarized. The C and N values in the sinking particles showed a clear seasonal variation, which agreed well with the variation in the chlorophyll a concentration in the surface seawater and in the sinking flux of biogenic particles. In particular, during the highly productive season of phytoplankton, a remarkable isotopic fractionation of N was found in the sinking particles, and it was inferred that the fractionation indicates the degree of nitrogen uptake by diatoms in the surface layer. These results are helpful information for linking the phenomenon in the ocean surface and the isotopic information recorded in the seafloor.

Mineralogical control of the size distribution of stable Cs and radiocesium in riverbed sediments

Tanaka, Kazuya; Watanabe, Naoko*; Yamasaki, Shinya*; Sakaguchi, Aya*; Fan, Q.*; Takahashi, Yoshio*

Geochemical Journal, 52(2), p.173 - 185, 2018/00

https://doi.org/10.2343/geochemj.2.0501

We analyzed riverbed sediments collected at two sites, Yamakiya and Kuroiwa, in Fukushima after the Fukushima accident. The size distributions of K, Rb, and Csreflected the mineralogy of sediments, where primary host minerals for these alkali elements would be biotite, K-feldspar, and clay minerals. Silt-size fractions contained high Cs and Cs concentrations possibly due to adsorption on clay minerals. Their concentrations decreased with particle size at the Yamakiya site. In contrast, coarse and very coarse sand fractions from the Kuroiwa site showed higher Cs and Cs concentrations in comparison to fine - medium sand fractions. The coarse sand fractions contained many weathered biotite grains. Overall, the size distributions of Cs and Cs were similar in the sediments, suggesting that the Fukushima-derived radiocesium was distributed into each particle size fraction in response to the distribution of the stable Cs that was controlled by mineralogical composition.

Processes affecting long-term changes in Cs concentration in surface sediments off Fukushima

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi

Journal of Oceanography, 73(5), p.559 - 570, 2017/10

AA2016-0399.pdf:0.91MB

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-017-0421-5

Based on monitoring data from 71 stations off the coast of Fukushima, Miyagi and Ibaraki Prefectures, changing tendencies of Cs concentration in surface (0-10 cm) sediment are analyzed, and primary processes affecting the temporal changes are determined. In the coastal region (water depth 100m), between 2011 and 2015, concentrations of Cs in the surface sediment decreased at the rate of 27% per year in average. Such a remarkable temporal change in the Cs concentration of sedimentary radiocesium was not observed in the offshore regions. By applying observed data of vertical distribution of sedimentary Cs into a pulse input sediment mixing model, it was estimated that more than a half of the decreasing effect was explained by vertical mixing of Cs-bound surface sediment with less-contaminated sediment in the deeper layers.

Resuspension and lateral transport of seafloor sediment contaminated with artificial radionuclides derived from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

Honda, Makio*; Otosaka, Shigeyoshi

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 58(4), p.225 - 228, 2016/04

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.58.4_225

Transport processes of particulate radiocesium obtained from a three year time-series sediment trap experiments at a site 115 km southeast of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant off Fukushima are expounded. Results show a high fraction of lithogenic material in sinking particles, suggesting a lateral source of sediments. In particular, we found that accident-derived radiocesium associate with slope and shelf sediments were resuspended and transported laterally to the offshore regions in typhoon seasons in 2013. Continuous observation of such transport processes of particulate radiocesium near the seabed would be significant for better understanding of the fate of accident-derived radiocesium.

Technology of measurement for radiation distribution on bottom of water; Application for measurement of irrigation ponds in Fukushima Prefecture

Sanada, Yukihisa; Torii, Tatsuo

Nihon Genshiryoku Gakkai-Shi ATOMO, 57(2), p.94 - 98, 2015/02

https://doi.org/10.3327/jaesjb.57.2_94

In Fukushima, quick and direct technique to measure a wide area of bottom of water is needed. We developed the plastic scintillation fiber (PSF) since accident at 1F. Therefore, the PSF was applied to measurement of irrigation pond. Here, the measuring method and the monitoring result are reported.

Anthropogenic radionuclides in sediment in the Japan Sea; Distribution and transport processes of particulate radionuclides

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Amano, Hikaru; Ito, Toshimichi; Kawamura, Hideyuki; Kobayashi, Takuya; Suzuki, Takashi; Togawa, Orihiko; Chaykovskaya, E. L.*; Lishavskaya, T. S.*; Novichkov, V. P.*; et al.

Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 91(3), p.128 - 145, 2006/00

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2006.09.001

Distributions of radionuclides (Sr, Cs and Pu) in seabed sediment in the Japan Sea were observed during 1998-2002. Observed inventories of anthropogenic radionuclides in sediment ranged 0.1-86 Bq m for Sr, 23-379 Bq m for Cs and 0.1-86 Bq m for Pu. In the deep part ( 2 km depth) of the western Japan Basin, Pu/Cs inventory ratios were larger than those in the central Yamato Basin although inventories of radionuclides were not different between basins. The higher Pu/Cs ratios in the western Japan Basin were derived by the production of Pu-enriched particle in the surface layer and effective sinking of particulate materials in this region. In the marginal Yamato Basin and the Ulleung Basin, both inventories and Pu/Cs ratios in sediment were larger than those in the central Yamato Basin. In the eastern/southern Japan Sea, it was suggested that the supply of particulate radionuclides by the TWC enhanced accumulation of radionuclides in this region.

Anthropogenic radionuclides in sediment in the Japan Sea

Otosaka, Shigeyoshi; Aramaki, Takafumi*; Suzuki, Takashi; Kobayashi, Takuya; Ito, Toshimichi; Togawa, Orihiko; Chaykovskaya, E. L.*; Dunaev, A. L.*; Karasev, E. V.*; Novichkov, V. P.*; et al.

Proceedings of International Symposium on Radioecology and Environmental Dosimetry, p.390 - 395, 2003/10

Seabed sediments were collected at 22 stations in the Japan Sea, and anthropogenic radionuclides were measured in order to understand distributions and accumulation processes of these materials. Averaged concentrations of Cs in sediment in the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin were 1.0 Bq/kg and 1.0 Bq/kg, respectively. Although there was no significant difference in mean Cs concentration between the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin, distributions of radionuclides in these 2 basins showed different features. In the Japan Basin, the spatial variation of concentration of radionuclides was smaller than that at the Yamato Basin. At most stations in the Yamato Basin, significant concentrations of radionuclides were not detected, but remarkable large activities were observed at several stations in the Yamato Basin. For all radionuclides, the highest concentration was observed in the southeastern margin of the Yamato Basin. These results would suggest that there were different accumulation processes of radionuclides between the Japan Basin and the Yamato Basin.