Jc. Callaway et al., CHERNOBYL CS-137 USED TO DETERMINE SEDIMENT ACCRETION RATES AT SELECTED NORTHERN EUROPEAN COASTAL WETLANDS, Limnology and oceanography, 41(3), 1996, pp. 444-450
Sediment cores were collected from five coastal wetlands along the Nor
th Sea (England and Netherlands) and Baltic Sea (Poland). Cs-137 datin
g was used to assess sediment accretion rates, including rates based o
n the Cs-137 peak from the 1986 accident at Chernobyl. Peaks from the
Chernobyl fallout were found in cores from the Oder and Vistula Rivers
in Poland, from the Eastern Scheldt in the Netherlands, and in one of
the two cores from Stiffkey Marsh, U.K. No evidence of Chernobyl fall
out was found in cores from Dengie Marsh, U.K. The Chernobyl Cs-137 pe
ak serves as an excellent marker for short-term accretion rates becaus
e of its high activity. Vertical accretion rates (cm yr(-1)) based on
1963 and 1986 peaks were similar at most sites; differences may be due
to large inputs of sediment from storms or recent accumulation of org
anic matter. Large differences in sediment characteristics and accreti
on rates were found between samples from Poland and western Europe. Ve
rtical accretion rates over the period 1963-1986 ranged from 0.26 to 0
.85 cm yr(-1) and from 0.30 to 1.90 cm yr(-1) over the 1986-1991 perio
d. Vertical accretion rates for the period 1963-1991 were greater than
the rates of relative sea-level rise for all cores, so it does not se
em that any of these sites are in imminent danger of excessive floodin
g. The Chernobyl Cs-137 peak will be especially useful for studies of
short-term (i.e. very recent) sedimentation in the near future and for
comparisons of sediment processes over different time scales.