Chernobyl still with us: 137Caesium activity contents in seabed sediments from the Gulf of Bothnia, northern Baltic Sea
Aarno Kotilainen, Mia M. Kotilainen, Vesa-Pekka Vartti, Kaisa-Leena Hutri, Joonas J. Virtasalo
Abstract
Anthropogenic radionuclides are among those human impacts, which can be seen widely in the marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident has rendered the Baltic Sea as the most polluted marine body in the world with respect to 137Cs. This research investigated sediment cores from 56 sites around the Gulf of Bothnia, Baltic Sea. Radioactivity from 137Cs in sediments has generally declined due to natural/radioactive decay of 137Cs over the last decades. However, 137Cs contents in subsurface sediments remain at elevated levels compared to pre-Chernobyl levels. The highest 137Cs activity contents in subsurface sediments (>4000 Bg kg−1) occur in coastal areas including estuaries. These areas often experience severe anthropogenic pressure. The southern Bothnian Sea, Kvarken archipelago, and southern Bothnian Bay all show elevated 137Cs values in subsurface sediments. Sedimentary 137Cs can also help constrain recent rates of sedimentation. Post-Chernobyl sedimentation rates in the Gulf of Bothnia varied from 0.1 to 4.8 cm/year with an average sedimentation rate of 0.54 cm/year.