Chapter 14
Gamma-Ray Radionuclides in Sediments from
Mamaia Beach on the Romanian Black Sea
Coast
Vasile Pa ˘tras ¸cu, Romul Mircea Ma ˘rgineanu, Ana-Maria Blebea-Apostu,
Da ˘nut ¸ I. Diaconeasa, and Mariana Claudia Gomoiu
Abstract Tourist activities on the seaside, but not exclusively, are dependent of the
quality of the environmental components from the coastal zone. The water and
the substrate are some of the main components. Their importance is supported, on the
other hand, by their background role in the marine ecosystem. The surveillance of
the radioactive indicator for sediments helps at knowing its distribution in the
marine ecosystem and at assessing the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation for
people. Setting-up and maintaining a database is necessary both for the present state,
as well as to assess trends. A further study may reveal important knowledge in
combination with other environmental factors, such as hydrodynamics, chemicals,
for example, and their impact on biota. The Navodari – Mamaia area, which is now
contained in a plan to rehabilitate the shoreline, was taken as a case study. The
samples were collected on seven profiles distributed in that area, all from the sands
at terrestrial vegetation limit and up to sediments submerged up to 12 m. The
56 samples were analyzed in IFIN-HH underground laboratory with ultra-low
radiation background. The results indicated the presence of artificial radionuclide
Cs-137, with values between 0.5 and 10.5 Bq/kg. The natural radionuclide K-40 is
also present in the range of 55–494 Bq/kg sediment.
Keywords Marine radioactivity • Sediments • Romanian coastal zone • Black Sea
V. Pa ˘tras ¸cu (*) • D.I. Diaconeasa
National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa”, Constant ¸a,
Romania
e-mail: vpatrascu@alpha.rmri.ro
R.M. Ma ˘rgineanu • A.-M. Blebea-Apostu • M.C. Gomoiu
Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH),
Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_14
233
Gamma-Ray Radionuclides in Sediments from
Mamaia Beach on the Romanian Black Sea
Coast
Vasile Pa ˘tras ¸cu, Romul Mircea Ma ˘rgineanu, Ana-Maria Blebea-Apostu,
Da ˘nut ¸ I. Diaconeasa, and Mariana Claudia Gomoiu
Abstract Tourist activities on the seaside, but not exclusively, are dependent of the
quality of the environmental components from the coastal zone. The water and
the substrate are some of the main components. Their importance is supported, on the
other hand, by their background role in the marine ecosystem. The surveillance of
the radioactive indicator for sediments helps at knowing its distribution in the
marine ecosystem and at assessing the risk of exposure to ionizing radiation for
people. Setting-up and maintaining a database is necessary both for the present state,
as well as to assess trends. A further study may reveal important knowledge in
combination with other environmental factors, such as hydrodynamics, chemicals,
for example, and their impact on biota. The Navodari – Mamaia area, which is now
contained in a plan to rehabilitate the shoreline, was taken as a case study. The
samples were collected on seven profiles distributed in that area, all from the sands
at terrestrial vegetation limit and up to sediments submerged up to 12 m. The
56 samples were analyzed in IFIN-HH underground laboratory with ultra-low
radiation background. The results indicated the presence of artificial radionuclide
Cs-137, with values between 0.5 and 10.5 Bq/kg. The natural radionuclide K-40 is
also present in the range of 55–494 Bq/kg sediment.
Keywords Marine radioactivity • Sediments • Romanian coastal zone • Black Sea
V. Pa ˘tras ¸cu (*) • D.I. Diaconeasa
National Institute for Marine Research and Development “Grigore Antipa”, Constant ¸a,
Romania
e-mail: vpatrascu@alpha.rmri.ro
R.M. Ma ˘rgineanu • A.-M. Blebea-Apostu • M.C. Gomoiu
Horia Hulubei National Institute for R&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH),
Bucharest-Magurele, Romania
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
C.W. Finkl, C. Makowski (eds.), Diversity in Coastal Marine Sciences, Coastal
Research Library 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-57577-3_14
233