GEOCHEMICAL JOURNAL
Online ISSN : 1880-5973
Print ISSN : 0016-7002
ISSN-L : 0016-7002
Atmospheric injections of polonium-210 from the recent volcanic eruptions
Z. ShengP. K. Kuroda
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1985 Volume 19 Issue 1 Pages 1-10

Details
Abstract

The concentrations of 210Pb and 210Po in a total of 73 samples of individual rain and snow collected at Fayetteville (36°N, 94°W), Arkansas, were determined radiochemically during the period between October 1982 and January 1984. A clear seasonal pattern of variation of the 210Po/210Pb ratio in rain was observed: the ratio reaches a maximum during the months of November and December or January and February each year. The 210Po/210Pb ratio data obtained in our laboratories since 1971 were compared with the results of the studies on seasonal variation of the sulfate concentrations in the stratosphere reported by Sedlacek et al. (1983) and the following general trend was observed: the occurrence of a peak sulfate concentration in the stratosphere caused by a major volcanic eruption is followed by the occurrence of a peak 210Po/210Pb ratio in rain and snow samples collected several months later. Effect of the atmospheric injections of excess 210Po from major eruptions of volcanoes located in Alaska, Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka and Kurile Islands can be seen more clearly at Seattle (47°N, 122°W), Washington, than at Fayetteville (36°N, 94°W), Arkansas.

Content from these authors
© Geochemical Society of Japan
Next article
feedback
Top