608 TRANSURANIC ELEMENTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT 



"I r 



Newport River estuary 



Savannah River estuary 



10 

 SALINITY, %o 



20 



Fig. 3 Total plutonium concentrations in the waters of three southeastern U. S. 

 estuaries. 



times as great as those in the Savannah River or Neuse River estuaries (Hayes, LeRoy, and 

 Cross, 1976); this may be due to shallow water in the Newport River estuary, which 

 could resuspend bottom sediments tlirougliout its depth. These sediments are likely to be 

 very fine since the Newport River flows entirely in the coastal plains where the slope is 

 small. The higher plutonium concentration in the Newport River estuary could be due to 

 the larger quantity of suspended solids. 



Within the Savannali River estuary, the plutonium concentrations in the sediment 

 from the tidal freshwater region and near the mouth of the estuary were comparable 

 (Table 2). The values are not greatly different from those of otlier locations that received 

 transuranic input from nuclear weapons fallout only. Plutonium concentrations up to 

 200 fCi/g have been reported for the Great Lakes sediments (Edgington et al., 1976); 

 about 60 to 70 fCi/g for Atlantic coastal waters, e.g., Buzzards Bay (Livingston and 

 Bowen, 1975); and about 10 to 30 fCi/g for the Savannah River system (Hayes, LeRoy, 

 and Cross, 1976). Fallout 2 3 8p^/2 3 9,2 4 0p^ j.^^jq5 ^^^ generally less than 0.1. Ratios 



