Radionuclides Distribution and its Sorption Behavior in the Surface Layer of the Kara Sea Bottom Sediments

Abstract

Abstract—The sorption characteristics of the Kara sea bottom sediments were investigated. The sediments were collected during scientific expedition of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh (Cruise AMK-66). The mineral and fraction composition of the sediments was determined. It has been found that ¹³⁷Cs is sorbed mainly by an ion exchange mechanism because of the clay minerals presence in sediments. At the same time, ²⁴³Am and ⁹⁰Sr sorbed from seawater by the surface complexation mechanism. It has been established that the sorption kinetics of ²⁴³Am, ¹³⁷Cs, and ⁹⁰Sr is about 20 hours, 2 hours, and less than an hour, respectively. The Cs and Am sorption isotherms in experiments with sea and deionized water are described by the Henry equation. The Sr behavior in the deionized and sea water is described by the Langmuir and Freindlikh equations, respectively.