title: Fukushima nuclear accident recorded in Tibetan Plateau snow pits.
abstract: The β radioactivity of snow-pit samples collected in the spring of 2011 on four Tibetan Plateau glaciers demonstrate a remarkable peak in each snow pit profile, with peaks about ten to tens of times higher than background levels. The timing of these peaks suggests that the high radioactivity resulted from the Fukushima nuclear accident that occurred on March 11, 2011 in eastern Japan. Fallout monitoring studies demonstrate that this radioactive material was transported by the westerlies across the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The depth of the peak β radioactivity in each snow pit compared with observational precipitation records, suggests that the radioactive fallout reached the Tibetan Plateau and was deposited on glacier surfaces in late March 2011, or approximately 20 days after the nuclear accident. The radioactive fallout existed in the atmosphere over the Tibetan Plateau for about one month.
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors: Ninglian
authors: N
authors: Wang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
authors: Xiaobo
authors: X
authors: Wu
authors: Department of Environmental Science, Informatics and Statistics, University of Venice, Venice, Italy.
authors: Natalie
authors: N
authors: Kehrwald
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
authors: Zhen
authors: Z
authors: Li
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
authors: Quanlian
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: College of Atmospheric Science, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, China.
authors: Xi
authors: X
authors: Jiang
authors: State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Science, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, China.
authors: Jianchen
authors: J
authors: Pu
mesh_terms: D001610:Beta Particles; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012914:Snow; D018609:Tibet
chemical_list: D011847:Radioactive Fallout