TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN ARCTIC TUNDRA ECOSYSTEMS 443 



Methods 



Sample Collection and Processing 



Soil samples were collected at eight locations near Thule (Fig. 2) during 1974 to estimate 

 the amounts of '^"^Cs and 2 3 8,239,240p|j jgpQsited on the landscapes. Seven of the 

 locations (numbers 5,7, 13, 14, 14A, 18, and 21 A) were chosen in the downwind vector 

 of the debris cloud that drifted from the 1968 crash site, and one location (number 3) 

 was located 20 km upwind from that site. Five 1-dm^ by 0.5-dm-deep samples were 

 collected at 0.2- to 0.4-km intervals along transects over landscapes selected for 



'21A 



WOLSTENHOLME 

 ISLAND 



KILOMETERS 



70 W 



68 W 



Fig. 2 Map of Thule, Greenland, environs showing 1968 and 1974 sampling sites for soils, 

 alluvium, and lichens. 



uniformity of slope, direction, orientation to the crash site and relationship to lichen 

 sampling sites. The variable intervals were selected to best represent the landscape unit to 

 be sampled. Soil samples were taken from sites that were free of vegetation and large 

 rocks. The five samples were composited, yielding 0.05 m^ of surface area, for inventory 

 of the radionuclide deposition. The method was similar to the template method adopted 

 by the Environmental Measurements Laboratory (Harley, 1972). Alluvium samples were 

 collected in the same manner as soil samples from seasonal streambeds that drained the 

 landscapes across which the soils were collected. 



Alaskan soil samples were collected from three locations at Anaktuvuk Pass and at 

 single locations near Bettles and Fairbanks in the same manner as at Greenland locations 

 except that single 1-dm^ by 0.5-dm-deep samples (0.01 m^) or three composited samples 

 (0.03 m^) were analyzed for radionuclides. The different methods were used to better 

 define analytical variability and to remain within the analytical capability of our 

 laboratory. 



