Relationships Between Radionuclide Content and Textural Properties in Irish Sea Intertidal Sediments

Intertidal sediments from a range of depositional environments in the eastern Irish Sea have been analysed with regard to their radionuclide content, particle size distribution and magnetic properties. Concentrations of²⁴¹Am and¹³⁷Cs are highly influenced by the abundance of sediment finer than 32μm in fine-grained sedimentary environments, whilst radionuclide activity in coarser sediments is less dependent on particle size. Investigation of the magnetic properties of these sediments highlights a similar association between this size fraction and magnetic remanence, the latter being shown to offer strong potential as a grain size proxy in monitoring¹³⁷Cs concentrations in fine-grained sediments. Analysis of particle size fractions indicates the extent to which¹³⁷Cs may be enriched in the clay size fractions of both tine and coarse sediments.