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Fukushima-Derived Cesium Isotopes in the North Western Pacific: Direct Observation and Altimetry-Based Simulation of Propagation

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Lagrangian Oceanography

Part of the book series: Physics of Earth and Space Environments ((EARTH))

Abstract

On March 11, 2011 tsunami caused a heavy damage to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP). In this chapter we apply the Lagrangian approach to simulate propagation of Fukushima-derived radionuclides advected by altimetric velocity field in the North Western Pacific. The results of simulation are compared with in situ measurements of levels of134Cs and137Cs concentrations. In the first section we focus on simulation just after the accident and in situ measurements in research vessel cruises in June and July 2011 (Kaeriyama et al. Biogeosciences 10(2):4287–4295, 2013; Buesseler et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci 109(16):5984–5988, 2012). Backward-in-time Lagrangian techniques are used to find out the origin and pathways of water samples with measured high levels of radioactivity. The altimetry-based simulation provides the evidence of near-surface transport of radioactive contamination across the Kuroshio Extension jet just after the accident due to pinching off rings from the jet. In the second section we present the results of in situ measurements of134Cs and137Cs at different depths in a broad area in June and July 2012. It was found that 15 month after the incident concentrations of radiocesium in the Japan and Okhotsk seas were at background or slightly increased level, while they had increased values in the subarctic frontal area east off Japan. The highest concentrations have been found to exceed ten times the background levels before the accident. Maximal content of radiocesium was observed within subsurface and intermediate water layers inside the cores of mesoscale ACEs. Convergence and subduction of surface water inside eddies are main reasons of downward transport of radionuclides. Different Lagrangian diagnostics are used to reconstruct the pathways and origin of synthetic tracers imitating measured seawater samples collected in each of those eddies. The results of observations are consistent with the simulated results. It is shown that the tracers, simulating water samples with increased radioactivity measured in the cruise, really visited the areas with presumably high level of contamination. Fast water advection between ACEs and convergence of surface water inside eddies make them responsible for spreading, accumulation, and downward transport of cesium rich water to the intermediate depth in the frontal zone.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Oceanological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems, Vladivostok, Russia

    Sergey V. Prants, Michael Yu. Uleysky & Maxim V. Budyansky

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  1. Sergey V. Prants
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  2. Michael Yu. Uleysky
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  3. Maxim V. Budyansky
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Prants, S.V., Uleysky, M.Y., Budyansky, M.V. (2017). Fukushima-Derived Cesium Isotopes in the North Western Pacific: Direct Observation and Altimetry-Based Simulation of Propagation. In: Lagrangian Oceanography. Physics of Earth and Space Environments. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53022-2_7

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