EVIDENCE FOR RADIONUCLIDE TRANSPORT BY SEA-ICE

Ice and ice-borne sediments were collected across the Arctic Basin dur ing the Arctic Ocean Section, 1994 (AOS-94), a recent US/Canada trans- Arctic expedition. Sediments were analysed for Cs-137, clay mineralogy and carbon. Concentrations of Cs-137 ranged from 5 to 73 Bq kg(-1) in the ice-borne sediments. Concentrations of ice samples without sedime nt were all less than 1 Bq m(-3). The sediment sample with the highest Cs-137 concentration (73 Bq kg(-1)) was collected in the Beaufort Sea . This concentration was significantly higher than in bottom sediments collected in the same area, indicating an ice transport mechanism fro m an area with correspondingly higher concentrations. Recent results f rom the application of ice transport models and sediment analyses indi cate that it is very likely that sediments are transported by ice, fro m the Siberian shelf areas to the Beaufort Sea. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce B.V.