Distribution coefficients (Kd) of strontium and significance of oxides and organic matter in controlling its partitioning in coastal regions of Japan.

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011 resulted in the release of large quantities of a long-lived radioactive strontium (i.e. (90)Sr; half-life: 28.8 y) into the coastal areas of Japan. (90)Sr release was dispersed and mixed into the water column, and will eventually be deposited into sediment. Because factors controlling seawater-sediment partitioning in the coastal marine environments are not fully understood, we developed seawater-sediment distribution coefficients, Kd (L/kg), for Sr in coastal regions of Japan by means of sediment-water partitioning experiments. (85)Sr was used as a radiotracer and conditions were designed to mimic the environmental systems of the sampling sites as closely as possible. Experimentally determined Kd values (Kd-ex) varied between 0.3 and 3.3 L/kg (mean, 1.4 L/kg), and the variation in Kd-ex was attributed to the percentage of Sr in the exchangeable fraction in the sediment. Kd-ex values were used, along with the measured concentrations of (88)Sr, a stable naturally occurring Sr isotope in seawater and sediment, to estimate the concentrations of exchangeable Sr in the sediment. Estimates ranged from 2.1 to 24.3 μg/kg, or 1.3-15.7% of the total (88)Sr concentration in the sediment. Significant correlations existed between the estimated concentrations of exchangeable Sr, and the organic matter and the oxide/hydrous oxide contents. When organic contents were greater than 0.38%, Sr binds to organic surface sites more strongly than to the other sites. Results indicate that binding of Sr to the surface of sedimentary particles was influenced by grain size, iron and manganese oxides, and organic matter. Furthermore, the information presented here could be useful to estimate Kd values for anthropogenic (90)Sr in sediment in the coastal marine environment.