Sediment Accumulation Rates in Conowingo Reservoir as Determined by Man-Made and Natural Radionuclides

• Published in: Estuaries 1991-06, Vol.14 (2), p.148-156
• Main Authors: McLean, R. I., Summers, J. K., Olsen, C. R., Domotor, S. L., Larsen, I. L., Wilson, H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 540330 - Environment, Aquatic- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-); ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES; ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; ATLANTIC OCEAN; BAYS; BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES; Biological and medical sciences; CESIUM 134; CESIUM 137; CESIUM ISOTOPES; CHEMISTRY; CHESAPEAKE BAY; COASTAL WATERS; Contaminants; Dams; ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES; Energy resources; Environmental laboratories; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT; Estuaries; EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI; FALLOUT; FALLOUT DEPOSITS; Freshwater; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; GEOCHEMISTRY; HEAVY NUCLEI; HOURS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES; INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI; INTERNAL CONVERSION RADIOISOTOPES; ISOMERIC TRANSI; ISOTOPES; LEAD 210; LEAD ISOTOPES; MASS TRANSFER; Natural reservoirs; NUCLEAR FACILITIES; NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS; NUCLEI; ODD-EVEN NUCLEI; POLLUTANTS; POWER PLANTS; Radioactive decay; RADIOISOTOPES; Radionuclides; Renewable energy; RETENTION; SEAS; SEDIMENTS; SURFACE WATERS; THERMAL POWER PLANTS; WATER RESERVOIRS; YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
• ISSN: 0160-8347; 1559-2758
• DOI: 10.2307/1351688

The Susquehanna River is the major contributor to sediment loadings in the Chesapeake Bay. Because many environmental contaminants are associated with suspended particulates, the degree of particle retention within the reservoirs of the lower Susquehanna River is an important consideration in evaluating contaminant loadings to the Chesapeake Bay. Profiles of weapons-test Cs-137, nuclear power plant-related Cs-134 and Cs-137, and naturally-derived Pb-210 were used to estimate rates of sediment accretion in the Conowingo Reservoir, an impoundment of the Susquehanna River along the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. Net accretion rates ranged from about 2 cm yr-1 downstream of a nuclear power plant cooling discharge to a high of about 7 cm yr-1 at the mount of an incoming creek. Slight, but consistent, increases in the annual rate of accretion since the creation of the reservoir in 1928 are apparent. The current net average annual sediment load retained by the reservoir is estimated to be 0.4× 106 to 1.5× 106 metric tons yr-1. The retained sediment load represents about 8-23% of the long-time average sediment input to the reservoir.