ARCTIC ENVIRONMENTAL ATLAS

31,4

MB

167

stron

3452

ID

NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY

2003

rok

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE . VIII

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX

ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS, AND CONVERSIONS X

I. INTRODUCTION . 1

BACKGROUND 4

CONTENTS OF THIS ATLAS . 4

THE ANWAP PROGRAM . 5

DATA QUALITY AND CAVEATS 5

II. TRANSPORT PATHWAYS . 7

ATMOSPHERIC TRANSPORT 9

RIVERINE AND OCEANIC TRANSPORT PATHWAYS 9

Spring and Summer Thaw 9

Sediment Transport from Rivers to the Ocean 10

Arctic Ocean Circulation 10

BIOTA . 16

MARINE-LIFE CONTAMINATION PATHWAYS 17

TERRESTRIAL-LIFE CONTAMINATION PATHWAYS . 22

ARCTIC PEOPLES . 22

III. RADIONUCLIDES . 25

RADIONUCLIDE FALLOUT . 27

THE CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT . 28

RADIONUCLIDE RELEASE INTO RIVERS AND THE OCEAN 30

CONTAMINATION IN SURFACE WATER 32

Cesium-137 Levels in the Northern Hemisphere Oceans 32

Plutonium-239,240 Levels in the Northern Hemisphere Oceans 42

Strontium-90 Levels in the Northern Hemisphere Oceans 46

RADIONUCLIDE CONTAMINATION IN SEDIMENTS 52

Sediment Characteristics 56

Radionuclide Contamination in Marine, Lacustrine, and Riverine Sediments (1990–1996) 62

IV. ARCTIC AIR POLLUTION 63

ARCTIC HAZE 65

SULFUR DIOXIDE AND ACID PRECIPITATION . 65

Acidification Effects on Biota and the Landscape 70

Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons 73

V. ORGANOCHLORINES 75

DICHLORODIPHENYLTRICHLOROETHANE 77

POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS 79

VI. HEAVY METALS 93

MERCURY . 95

LEAD 97

CADMIUM 102

ARSENIC 103

VII. OZONE DEPLETION AND CLIMATE CHANGE 117

OZONE DEPLETION 119

CLIMATE CHANGE . 119

GLOSSARY, APPENDIXES, AND REFERENCES 123

GLOSSARY 125

APPENDIX A. MAP AND FIGURE DATA SOURCES. 127

APPENDIX B. CONTAMINATION GUIDELINES . 133

REFERENCES 143

SUGGESTED READING . 159