RAPID: Tracking Radioactive Fallout from the Fukushima Dai-ichi Disaster in Arctic Snow

该项目的目标是调查2011年3月福岛第一核反应堆事故中放射性物质向阿拉斯加（德纳里国家公园）和格陵兰岛（图勒和顶峰站）的远距离运输。这些地点的事故放射性尘降物可能被用作未来研究这些地区冰雪样本的时间标记，就像武器试验和切尔诺贝利事件的放射性尘降物分别被用来测定1958-1963年和1986年的样本的年代一样。这种未来的应用依赖于即时的数据收集，以确定沉降物的模式和浓度，并根据短寿命同位素的“特征”来识别福岛地平线，以便在短寿命同位素衰变后收集的样本可以被识别。这项研究还将深入了解其他大气物质和污染物从亚洲到阿拉斯加和格陵兰岛的运输途径。这个项目包含了几个研究生的参与，在所有三个地点收集样本，包括达特茅斯极地环境变化IGERT项目的学生。一名本科生将参与阿拉斯加的实地考察和实验室分析。

The goal of this project is to investigate the long-range transport of radioactive material from the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor incident to sites in Alaska (Denali National Park) and Greenland (Thule and Summit Station). Fallout from the accident at these sites could potentially be used as a time marker in future studies of ice and snow samples from these areas, just as fallout from weapons testing and the Chernobyl incident are used to date samples from 1958-1963 and 1986, respectively. Such future applications rely on immediate data collection to establish the pattern and concentration of fallout, and to identify the Fukushima horizon based on "signatures" of short-lived isotopes, so that later samples collected after the shorter-lived isotopes have decayed can be identified. This study will also provide insight into transport pathways of other atmospheric materials and pollutants from Asia to Alaska and Greenland. This project incorporates the participation of several graduate students in collecting samples at all three field locations, including students enrolled in the Dartmouth Polar Environmental Change IGERT program. An undergraduate student will participate in the Alaska fieldwork and the laboratory analyses.