Elevated levels of radiocarbon in methane dissolved in seawater reveal likely local contamination from nuclear powered vessels

Joung, DongJoo; Ruppel, Carolyn; Southon, John; Kessler, John D.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150456

Elevated levels of radiocarbon in methane dissolved in seawater reveal likely local contamination from nuclear powered vessels

Journal Article · Tue Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Science of the Total Environment

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.150456· OSTI ID:1977626

Joung, DongJoo ^[1]; Ruppel, Carolyn ^[2]; Southon, John ^[3]; Kessler, John D. ^[4]

Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States); OSTI
US Geological Survey, Woods Hole, MA (United States)
Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States)
Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)

Measurements of the natural radiocarbon content of methane (¹⁴C-CH₄) dissolved in seawater and freshwater have been used to investigate sources and dynamics of methane. However, during investigations along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Ocean Margins of the United States, as well as in the North American Great Lakes, some samples revealed highly elevated ¹⁴C-CH₄ values, as much as 4–5 times above contemporary atmospheric ¹⁴C-CH₄ levels. Natural production of the ¹⁴CH₄ isotopologue is too low to cause these observations nor can it explain the variations in location and depth. Numerous lab and field validation tests and blanks, as well as the relatively small number of samples that display these elevated values, all suggest that these signals are not derived from an unknown procedural issue. Here, in this work, we suggest that the byproducts of nuclear power generation include localized discharges of the ¹⁴CH4 isotopologue into marine and aquatic environments, severely altering the measured ¹⁴C-CH₄ isotopic signals. Since several of our sample sites are distant from on-land nuclear powerplants, we conduct further calculations concluding that the most elevated anomalies in ¹⁴C-CH₄ likely originate with discharge from nuclear-powered vessels.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: US Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89243320SFE000013; FE0026195; FE0028980

OSTI ID:: 1977626

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1823480

Journal Information:: Science of the Total Environment, Journal Name: Science of the Total Environment Journal Issue: Part 2 Vol. 806; ISSN 0048-9697

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Elevated levels of radiocarbon in methane dissolved in seawater reveal likely local contamination from nuclear powered vessels

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