Bacteria and plutonium in marine environments

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1978

OSTI ID:5845134

Carey, A E; Bowen, V T

Microbes are important in geochemical cycling of many elements. Recent reports emphasize biogenous particulates and bacterial exometabolites as controlling oceanic distribution of plutonium. Bacteria perform oxidation/reduction reactions on metals such as mercury, nickel, lead, copper, and cadmium. Redox transformations or uptake of Pu by marine bacteria may well proceed by similar mechanisms. Profiles of water samples and sediment cores were obtained along the continental shelf off Nova Scotia and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Profiles of water samples, and sediment cores were obtained. Epifluorescent microscopy was used to view bacteria (from water or sediment) after concentration on membrane filters and staining with acridine orange. Radiochemical analyses measured Pu in sediments and water samples. Studies of /sup 237/Pu uptake used a strain of Leucothrix mucor isolated from a macroalga. Enumeration shows bacteria to range 10/sup 4/ to 10/sup 5/ cells/ml in seawater or 10/sup 7/ to 10/sup 8/ cells/gram of sediment. These numbers are related to the levels and distrbution of Pu in the samples. In cultures of L. mucor amended with Pu atom concentrations approximating those present in open ocean environments, bacterial cells concentrated /sup 237/Pu slower and to lower levels than did clay minerals, glass beads, or phytoplankton. These data further clarify the role of marine bacteria in Pu biogeochemistry.

• Research Organization: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5845134
• Report Number(s): COO-3563-70; CONF-7805193-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
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54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
BACTERIA
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BIOGEOCHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY
DATA
DATA FORMS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ECOSYSTEMS
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
GEOCHEMISTRY
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES
ISOLATED VALUES
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
MICROORGANISMS
NUCLEI
NUMERICAL DATA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUTONIUM 237
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE KINETICS
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SEAWATER
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
SEDIMENTS
WATER