Radioactivity measurements applied to glaciers and lake sediments

The behaviour of glaciers, polar ice-caps and lakes can be studied by means of natural and artificial radioactivity measurements conducted on snow (Alps, Arctic and Antarctic) and sediments samples. The nuclear decay of elements (210Pb and 238U filiation products) and nuclear events (atmospheric thermonuclear tests: 1954 and 1962–1963; Chernobyl accident: 1986) allow an absolute dating of corresponding layers. These determinations need radiochemical separations (electro-plating, ion exchange filters), followed by ultra low level alpha and gamma spectrometries, or beta counting (137Cs, 90Sr). The high purity — N type — germanium detector (Compton-suppressed) allows the 210Pb analysis at 46.52 KeV, enabling a direct comparison with 210Po alpha spectrometry. Typical applications concern primarily dating, and the determination of mean annual accumulation rates of glaciers, sedimentation rate and mixing time in lakes, with their associated spatio-temporal variations. These measurements give access to the global fallouts of radionuclides and to meteorological parameters: air to snow (or sediment) transfer, deposition processes and atmospheric circulation.