72 



Atomic Radiation and Oceanography and Fisheries 



from very low concentration (less than 5 ppm) 

 in the "battery-water" lakes to very high concen- 

 trations (more than 400 ppm) in the "alkali" 

 lakes. The fertility of fresh waters ranges from 

 the almost sterile bog lakes to the highly pro- 

 ductive lakes in the midwestern prairies. 



The physical states and ionic speciation of 

 elements in sea water cannot be as well defined 

 as their absolute concentrations. However, us- 

 ing the known physicochemical constants, and 

 assuming a pH of 8 and a salinity of 35 parts 

 per thousand for sea water, Krauskopf (1956) 

 postulated that the principal valence states of 

 the ions of a number of metals in sea water are 

 as listed in Table 2. From these data it may 



TABLE 2 Calculated Valence States for 



Metallic Ions in Sea Water 



(From Krauskopf, 1956) 



Element Ion 



Zinc Zn-f +, ZnCl+ 



Copper Cu++, CuCI-f 



Bismuth BiO-f 



Cadmium CdCl-f, CdCU 



Nickel Ni+-f , NiCl+ 



Cobalt Co-f + 



Mercury HgClr 



Silver AgCIa" 



Gold AuCIr (Calculated by 



Goldberg) 



Chromium CrOr 



Vanadium HsVOr, HaVoOr" 



Magnesium Mg-| — \- 



Calcium Ca+-f- 



Strontium Sr-\ — \- 



Barium Ba+-|- 



be concluded that most monovalent or divalent 

 ions, except the noble metals, will occur as ca- 

 tions whereas most metals with valences higher 

 than two, and the noble metals, will occur as 

 anions. 



The physical states of a given element under 

 equilibrium conditions depend upon whether or 

 not the solubility product of the least soluble 

 species has been exceeded. Greendale and Bal- 

 lou (1954) have determined the distribution of 

 elements among the soluble, colloidal, and par- 

 ticulate states by simulating the conditions of an 

 underwater detonation of an atomic bomb. 

 Their data are presented in Table 3. 



It is not known whether the elements that 

 occur in colloidal or particulate phases are 

 homogeneous entities or are sorbed in other 

 solid phases. Nevertheless, it appears that ele- 

 ments of Groups, I, II, V, VI, and VII usually 



occur as ionic forms in sea water, whereas other 

 elements, excluding the rare gases, occur pre- 

 dominantly as solid phases. These generaliza- 

 tions have been confirmed in field tests after 

 underwater detonations where more than 50 per 

 cent of the resultant radioactivity was associated 

 with solid phases retained by a molecular filter 

 of pore size 0.5 micron (Goldberg, unpublished 

 data) . 



Although the data supplied by Greendale and 

 Ballou (1954) are of value for the physical 

 states of elements following the detonation of 

 an atomic bomb, they are at best only suggestive 

 of the steady-state conditions which might re- 

 sult from the continuous spilling of fission 

 product wastes into the sea on a long-term basis. 



TABLE 3 Physical States of Elements in Sea 



Water 



(From Greendale and Ballou, 1954) 



Percentage in given physical state 



Element Ionic Colliodal Particulate 



Cesium 70 7 23 



Iodine 90 8 2 



Strontium 87 3 10 



Antimony 73 15 12 



Tellurium 45 43 12 



Molybdenum 30 10 60 



Ruthenium 5 95 



Cerium 2 4 94 



Zirconium 1 3 96 



Yttrium 4 96 



Niobium 100 



Metabolic processes concerned with the uptake, 

 accumulation, and loss of radionuclides 



There are many factors concerned with met- 

 abolic processes which are to be considered 

 among the biological aspects of the accumula- 

 tion of radiomaterials. It has been demonstrated 

 that the metabolism of all form.s of life is re- 

 markably similar at the cellular level even 

 though the morphological differences among 

 aquatic organisms range from the bacteria 

 through the vertebrate forms, and from the 

 algae through the vascular plants. Nevertheless, 

 differences do exist. These differences are gov- 

 erned by the complex anatomies, life histories, 

 and physiological processes, and the relation- 

 ships of the organisms with each other and with 

 their environment. All of these differences must 

 be considered in the light of the physical and 

 chemical states of the elements involved. 



