DOCSLIB.ORG

Health Physics, Pergmon Press 1965, Vol. Ii, Pp

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Health Physics, Pergmon Press 1965, Vol. Ii, Pp I MARSHALL ISLANDS FILE TRACKING DOCUMENT Record Number: &z3’/ File Name (TITLE): Document Number (ID): DATE: ‘$&% 5-- Previous Location (FROM): P/C .- AUTHOR: h Hoc&a Addditional Information: J OrMIbox: 1, & CyMIbox: : I -- /, ! ,/’ /, ’ -‘;l> / _-q- .I IL! _ PROCEEDINGS OF THE r,..JORD SYMPOSIUM ON RADIATION AND TERt,,,,RIAL ECOSYSTEMS RICHLAND, WASHINGTON 3-S MAY 1965 “ OFF/C/AL JOURNAL/OF- 3-E‘HEALTH PHYSICS SOCIETY :./’ ’ l.._ _. ‘I \i c . ,. /’ . ./’ >‘\\ I / Volume I I, Number December, I965 ‘\ ,/.’ / ox. 8,’ ! \ / i ,’ i’ I ,,” ‘? ,j’ ._ ! ‘.- \ $7 KARL Z. MORGAN c> \ Editor-in-Chief 0 c --- W. S. SNYDER PERGAMON PRESS NEW YORK OXFORD ’ @h physicsPergamon Press 1965. Vol. 11, pp. 1445-1457. Printed in Northern Ireland \ \ :a1Lbofo. (1964). ‘YWf%p. \ . LARSON, PRELIMINARY STUDIES OF THE PERSISTENCE OF TRITIUM ’ 1 by v. AND “C IN THE PACIFIC PROVING GROUND* q?..$xeinhold, ‘:_.:. ., :’ 2 b 1% 271 JOHN J. KORANDA Bio-Medical Division, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, University of California, Soil P/. Livermore, California 0 Expm (Presented by J. J. KORANDA) ’ SUPPL nization, Abstract-The results of a preliminary survey of detonation environments in the Pacific Proving Grounds indicate that r&dual tritium and “C are present in relatively high concentra- tions in soil materials of the detonation sites at times up to 12 years after the event. Exchange of soil-bound tritium with the available soil water takes place at a slow but significant rate and tritium is detectable in plants growing in the detonation environments. 1% is also elevated in the terrestrial plants. The basis for the elevated 1% is not implicit in these preliminary data. Tritium and 1’C are also present in elevated concentrations in marine organisms. However, due to the high rate of exchange of the lagoon waters with the open sea, these elevated concen- trations arc highly localized in the vicinity of the detonation site (Mike Crater). INTRODUCTION basic structures of organisms in the detonation THE FATE of residual radioactivity from nuclear environment. detonations in natural environments has been While tritium and 14C have been detected ttudied with increasing intensity since the and studied in worldwide fallout, the fate of beginning of testing in the S.W. Pacific in 1946. these two radioelements in local detonation Sluch of the biological information on the local environments and in the biosphere in general has cffccts of residual radioactivity is about either received little attention. Recent evidence from the atoll environments of the Pacific Proving the Sedan cratering detonation in southern Grounds in the Marshall Islands or the desert Nevada indicates that tritium is present in high areas of the Nevada Test Site. Much of this concentration in the geological materials dis- information pertains to fission products and placed and modified by the detonation 2 years their movement in soils, plants and animals of after the detonation. Therefore, a study was rhc detonation environment although some initiated to investigate the persistence of tritium recentresearch has been concerned with induced and 14C in detonation environments. This paper ndioactivities. presents the results of a preliminary survey for \Vith the advent of therm’onuclear devices and tritium and 14C in an atoll environment of the the subsequent lowering of the fission-fusion Pacific Proving Grounds. Detonations occurred mios, induced radioactivities have grown in from 6 to 12 years ago in the sites sampled, and importance relative to fission products. Tritium tropical vegetation has reinvaded most of the and 14C represent a significant portion of the areas affected. Tritium and 1°C activity was raidual radioactivity from a thermonuclear determined in plants, animals and soils from a detonation. Hydrogen and carbon are ubiqui- variety of habitats. The effects of indigenous KJUSelements in the biosphere and are included substratum, climatology, and uptake by the in every significant biological molecule. Tritium biota on the persistence of tritium and “C are and 14C, therefore, will be incorporated into the discussed. Evidence indicates that both tritium and l*C ‘This work performed under the auspices of the have been retained by the physical materials in U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. the detonation environment in relatively high la 1445 i4-G PERSKSES-CE OF TRITILX .A...D ‘4I IS THE P_KIFIC PRO\-Lh-G CROL-XI concenrrationst and that they are presently in the 1958 series, and in previous sear, detectable at elevated levels in the biota. tower shots were fired on this island. Collectiol, were also made on Aomon, Biijiri and Aaranbini DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY Islands on the eastern edge of the atoll. The Eniwetok Atoll is in the northern portion of islands were adjacent to shot areas and recei\& the Marshall Islands in the S.W. Pacific Ocean close-in fallout from barge shots in the lagoon, (1 l”30’ N lat, 162”15 E long) and was a proving Aomon Island had a 49-kton tower shot in 1918, ground for nuclear device testing from 1948 to A map of Eniwetok Atoll with the island name 1958 when the last detonations took place. The and crater locations is given in Fig. 1. detonations occurred in various environmental situations within or near the atoll, In11 fur the Sampling procedure purposes of surveying for residual tritium and This survey is intended to be an initial I%, the crater-forming shots were considered examination of the Eniwetok environment to most appropriate. Preliminary studies of a determine if tritium and “C are present in large cratering detonation at the Nevada Test biological and soil materials at times up to 12) Site have indicated that a significant fraction after detonation. Because of the preliminaq of the residual tritium produced becomes nature of the survey, it was desirable to collect a associated with the geological materials in and wide variety of materials without acquiring displaced by the explosion.“) excessively large numbers of samples for analys$. The detonations which produced a distinct In some cases a sample series may be incom. crater at Eniwetok Atoll were few (many shots plete because of sample number limitations 01 being made from barges within the atoll lagoon), its unavailability at the time of collection. In but two areas were selected for survey on the spite of some shortcomings and the preliminaq basis of their physical and biological character- nature of this survey, the data enable us to istics. Cactus Shot (1958 Hardtack Series) pro- describe in some detail the persistence of tritium duced a terrestrial crater at the north end of and 14C in the physical and biological materials Runit Island on the eastern edge of the atoll. of the atoll. The crater has a distinct lip and a throwout The samples were collected on eight islands zone of mounded coral sand and debris. Vas- on Eniwetok Atoll during July and August 1964. cular plants have become reestablished on the This was the beginning of the rainy season in the crater materials, and trees of Scaevola jiutescens northern Marshall Islands. The University of and Messerschmidia argentea with diameters up to Washington, Laboratory of Radiation Biology 4 in. at the crown are growing within 15 ft of the scientific staff was conducting a resurvey of crater lip. Mike Shot (1952 Ivy Series) created Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls at this time and a large submarine crater adjacent to Sanildefonso assisted in collecting the biological specimens. Island. The crater is actually in the coral reef It would not have been possible to obtain the that forms the oval platform on which the wide range of samples reported in this study islands of the atoll have formed. The crater has without their valuable assistance. partially filled with coral sand since the shot At Japtan, Runit and Engebi Islands, wood. date. green leaves, litter and a soil sample were Other islands in the atoll not involved directly collected as an ecological series from the same in any nuclear detonation (but which undoubt- sample site. A wood sample from the south end edly received close-in fallout of large particles) of Runit Island was compared with the sample were also sampled to provide information on the from the north end at Cactus Crater. Wood general tritium background of the atoll. Igurin samples were also obtained from four other Island at the southern end of the atoll and islands. Japtan Island on the eastern edge were islands Two plant species were often present in the farthest from the detonation sites which were habitats of the detonation sites. These were sampled in this series, Engebi Island at the Triumfetta procumbeq a prostrate vine in the northeast corner of the atoll was also sampled. Tiliaceae, and Leptunu repent, a short grass. Thw This island was adjacent to many barge shot sites species were collected on Runit Island adjacent J. J. KORANDA Series, ctions nbiru Thrr\e .rivnl <C\\I\, i91:;. ‘w>nn,-._.>..c.i!..;. initial :nt IO nt in ’ 12v ina lect a liring IlYSii. tom. ns or . In narY 1s to tium :rials ands 964. 1 the Y of- ‘osy r’ of and ens. the UdY )od, rere ._*.*.....,:< . lme a&p,,:,&%+&nd IPlC 3od her Fro. 1. Map of Eniwetok Atoll. the ere the ese cnt 1448 PERSISTENCE OF TRITIUM AND “C IN THE PACIFIC PROVING GROUX~ to Cactus Crater and on Sanildcfonso Island the soil particles (in this case, alm%s c near Mike Crater. CaCO,and Car@~~,,\vemoi?ti~c~ ;,; ,_,. 3”.+/A rildt’ 01.!!irlri?l;i’ . tir1c <.l:f;Y?,<.-f’ti’ .Iirl*.~~.;r-_ :;li;’ :Iie ihX?ZC-~ ;7XlCIUfZS in .i ': I cnfims ..v:thin ihe ia,goon. Fishes were obtained containing copper oxide at 6OOilO\,;c. near I,gurin Island, Runit Island and off is collected from the effluent gas by a frccrr Sanildefonso Island at the edge of Mike Crater.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lingering Radioactivity at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls (Pdf)
    Science of the Total Environment 621 (2018) 1185–1198 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv Lingering radioactivity at the Bikini and Enewetak Atolls Ken O. Buesseler ⁎, Matthew A. Charette, Steven M. Pike, Paul B. Henderson, Lauren E. Kipp Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA HIGHLIGHTS GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT • Both 239,240Pu and 137Cs remain elevated today at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. • These sites remain a small long term source of Pu and Cs to the North Pacific. • About half of the Pu in the waters at Enewetak Lagoon originates near Runit Dome. • Only a small fraction of Pu and Cs from Runit Dome is delivered via groundwater. article info abstract Article history: We made an assessment of the levels of radionuclides in the ocean waters, seafloor and groundwater at Bikini Received 4 August 2017 and Enewetak Atolls where the US conducted nuclear weapons tests in the 1940's and 50's. This included the Received in revised form 5 October 2017 first estimates of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) derived from radium isotopes that can be used here Accepted 12 October 2017 to calculate radionuclide fluxes in to the lagoon waters. While there is significant variability between sites and Available online 30 October 2017 sample types, levels of plutonium (239,240Pu) remain several orders of magnitude higher in lagoon seawater 137 Editor: D. Barcelo and sediments than what is found in rest of the world's oceans. In contrast, levels of cesium-137 ( Cs) while relatively elevated in brackish groundwater are only slightly higher in the lagoon water relative to North Pacific Keywords: surface waters.
    [Show full text]
  • Marshall Islands Adoption Treaty
    Marshall Islands Adoption Treaty Glimmery and dissymmetrical Thaxter always deionize incessantly and skunk his funfairs. Sasha remains wriggling: she whipsawing her luminosities honing too indestructibly? Acaroid Jehu never vilified so ungravely or unfasten any blusters spiritually. An online forum for rigorous discussion and analysis of current issues in human rights law. Easiest Countries To grain From 2021 World who Review. States under this section may not be made when incorrect payment has been made to an individual who is without fault and when adjustment or recovery would defeat the purpose of this title or would be against equity and good conscience. Since the indictment in October, Petersen was suspended from his elected position and subsequently resigned in January. Visit our fee schedule, when adjustment in a long term. The women later told authorities that they were headed to Arkansas to put their children up for adoption. In some instances, domestic insolvency proceedings have amounted to a breach of IIA obligations. Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. It was not always that way. To activate this feature, you will need to add a parameter to your apstag. Funding for groundwater monitoring. This balancing act is exacerbated by limited access to water, electricity, technology, and internet for Marshallese students. When traveling during the adoption process, we encourage you to enroll with the Department of State. Sciences under which the National Academy of Sciences shall conduct an assessment of the health impacts of the United States nuclear testing program conducted in the Republic of the Marshall Islands on the residents of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
    [Show full text]
  • Marshall Islands Chronology: 1944-1981
    b , KARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY - ERRATUM SHEET Page 12. column 1 and 2. “1955 - March 9 United Xations. .‘I and “May Enewetak . .” This should read. L956 - IMarch 9 United Nations..,“and IMay Enewetak .--*‘ Marshal ACHRONOLOGY: 1944-1981 LISRARY - ~ASHINCTGN, D.C. 2054-5 MICRONESIA SUPPORT COMlITTEE Honolulu, Hawalt F- ‘ifm ti R.EAD TICS ~RO?OLOGY: Weapons Testim--even numbered left hand pages 4-34; destruction of island home- Lands and radioactive wntamination of people, land and food sources. Resettlement of People--odd numbered right hand pages 5-39; the struggle to survive in exile. There is some necessary overlap for clarity; a list of sources used concludes the Chronology on pages 36 and 38. BIKINI ATOLL IN 1946, PRIOR TO THE START OF THE NUCLEAR TESTS. 1st edition publishe'dJuly 1978 2nd edition published August 1981 “?aRTlEGooDoFM ANKlND..~ Marshall Islands people have borne the brunt of U.S. military activity in Micronesia, from nuclear weapons experiments and missile testing to relocations of people and radio- active contamination of people and their environment. All, as an American military com- mder said of the Bikini teats, “for the good of mankind and to end all world wars.” Of eleven United Nations Trusteeships created after World War II, only Micronesia was designated a “strategic” trust, reflecting its military importance to the United States. Ihe U.N. agreement haa allowed the U.S. to use the islands for military purposes, while binding the U.S. to advance the well being of the people of Micronesia. Western nuclear powers have looked on the Pacific, because of its small isolated popu- lations, aa an “ideal” location to conduct nuclear activities unwanted In their own countries.
    [Show full text]
  • Government of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
    Received by NSD/FARA Registration Unit 11/11/2020 3:57:37 PM TVS- Republic of the Marshall Islands PO Box 2 Majuro, MH 96960 September 24, 2020 The Honorable Deb Fischer Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Senate Committee on Armed Services 454 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Martin Heinrich Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Senate Committee on Armed Services 303 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Chairperson Fischer and Ranking Member Heinrich, Warm greetings from the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) and thank you for your continued leadership to ensure that the Compact of Free Association actively maintains our bilateral friendship and mutual commitments. We are writing to you today regarding the recent report by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the status of the Runit Dome on Enewetak Atoll. The report was submitted to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives last June as required by Section 364 of Public Law 116-92, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020. The RMI welcomed the request in the NDAA for this report and we thank you and your colleagues in the Senate for your support for its inclusion. We note that there was an element in the original House version of the bill to ask the DOE to provide options for relocating the waste in the Runit Dome, but this was removed in the final version adopted by the Senate. We would be interested in revisiting this request in the future.
    [Show full text]
  • DOE Runit Dome Report to Congress Signed June 2020
    Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands Report to Congress June 2020 United States Department of Energy Washington, DC 20585 Department of Energy | June 2020 Message from the Secretary The Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to fulfilling the United States’ commitments to the health and safety of the people of the Marshall Islands from the effects of the nuclear weapons testing conducted in the past. This is the DOE Report to Congress regarding the status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands, as outlined in Section 364 of Public Law 116-92, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. Pursuant to statutory requirements, this report is being provided to the following members of Congress: The Honorable James Inhofe Chairman, Senate Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Jack Reed Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Deb Fischer Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Senate Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Martin Heinrich Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Senate Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Adam Smith Chairman, House Committee on Armed Services The Honorable William “Mac” Thornberry Ranking Member, House Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Jim Cooper Chairman, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces House Committee on Armed Services The Honorable Michael Turner Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces House Committee on Armed Services Report on the Status of the Runit Dome in the Marshall Islands | Page i Department of Energy | June 2020 If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me or Mr. Shawn Affolter, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Senate Affairs, or Mr.
    [Show full text]
  • CATCHING the DRIFT: Impacts of Oceanic Drift Material in the Marshall Islands
    MICRONESIAN JOURNAL OF THE HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES Vol. 5, nº 1/2 Combined Issue November 2006 CATCHING THE DRIFT: Impacts of Oceanic Drift Material in the Marshall Islands Nancy Vander Velde and Brian Vander Velde Majuro, Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands, situated in the Central Pacific, are far from any major landmass. However, by means of oceanic drift, they are connected with virtually all the Pacific. This paper reviews how the types of drift from various areas have impacted the lives of people on the Marshall Islands. The local language, canoe construction, tools, food, agriculture and other aspects of the culture have been influenced by oceanic drift, with the effects continuing to the present The Marshall Islands, located from between with the help of humans. All other plants likely 160º to 173º east and 4º to 14º north, lie thou- came by traveling the waves. sands kilometers in all directions from any ma- The proportion of plant species which likely jor mass of land. Geologically the 29 atolls and came through oceanic drift is quite high when 5 solitary coral islands1, which constitute this compared with other islands. After Krakatau country, are figured to be quite young, prob- was devastated in 1883, the restoration process ably only coming to a point where they could began a little over a year later with a “few be colonized by land species three- to four- blades of grass.” Although the nearest unaffec- thousand years ago. Furthermore, it was likely ted land was comparatively near, being only only about two-thousand years ago when hu- about 40 km away, early plant recolonization mans were able to colonize the land (NBTRMI consisted of many species which spread via 2000, pp.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Dec. 1980
    410781 The United States conducted 66 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands. Twenty-two years later the authorities continue to disagree on when the islands wIII be safe for resettlement. GIFF JOHNSON Paradise lost The U.S. government is now at- at Bikini and Enewetak. Edward ers do not substantiate its clasms. tempting to prove at Enewetak what Mane]]. of the National Center for One of many reports from it couldn’t at Bikini: that it is pos- Atmospheric Research. writing to Enewetak was publicized in an ex- sible for people to return safely Micronesia LegaJ Services, a U.S. clusive television interview. in to an area devastated by nuclear government organization represent- which a mechanic stated that he and weapons. Following completion of a ing the Enewetak people, expressed others had worked without protect- three-year, $1W million nuclear concern over the ive gear underneath dozens of txucks cleanup of Enewetak Atoll in &he returning from the plutonium– Marshall Islands—site of 43 nuclear “highly questionable recom- contaminated islands. He said ‘-the tests-the United States says it is safe mendations regarding acceptable tires and underside of the vehicles for the pcople who were moved out to levels of plutonium in the soils and were usually covered with dust and return to &rtain islands. But while the very doubtful merits ~f pro- din, ” but the workers were given no the cleanup has been hailed in some ceeding with the resettlement of respirators for protection.’ i quarters as a “remarkable success, ” Eneweuk Atoll on the basis of the Press visitors to Enewetak in April controversy is developing over recommendations of a Task Group 1980 noticed similar flaws in Wfense whether or not people should return assembled by the Atomic Energy Nuclear Agency safety standards.
    [Show full text]
  • PSAD-79-54 Enewetak Atoll
    BY THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL Report To The Congress c OF THE UNITEDSTATES IQ* Enewetak Atoll--Cleaning Up Nuclear Contamination The United States will spend an estimated $100 million to clean up, rehabilitate, and re- settle Enewetak Atoll, a nuclear weapons testing site from 1948 to 1958. The Defense Nuclear Agency, responsible for the cleanup, is projecting that all major cleanup objec- tives will be met or exceeded. Even if all cleanup objectives are accom- plished, people must adhere to U.S.-recom- mended restrictions to avoid overexposure to radiation. As the time for resettlement approaches, test-related issues remain open, which could result in problems for the United States if not resolved soon. These issues include loss of land, loss of land use, loss of cash crops, radiological monitoring, and the possibility that recommended living pattern restrictions will not be observed. NOTICE 9 Further release of this report may not be in the best interest of the Government for \! reasons stated herein. MAY 8, 1979 COMPTROLLSRGENERAL OF THE UNITED -AM WAsN,NGTON.D.C. zom* B-165546 To the President of the Senate and the ,Q:J : i * Speaker of the House of Representatives * The Enewetak Atoll project represents a unique attempt by the United States to clean up an area radioactively con- taminated during nuclear tests and resettle the people. Enewetak Atoll, located in the Marshall Islands, is part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. This report discusses the roles of the Federal agencies involved and identifies issues which should be resolved be- fore the United States can consider the project finished.
    [Show full text]
  • Marshall Islands Chronology 1944
    DRAFT Marshall Islands Chronology 1944 to 1990 January 11,1991 .’, Prepared by Am C. I)eines David L Cm@pap Ruth !+?LHa~+. ‘:: ‘ ‘--- Laura J. Kens. .“ HISTORY ASSOCIAms INCORPOti~D The Histotic Montmse~S&ool 5721 Randolph Road Rockvillq MaryIand 20852 Pre~amd far the U.S. I)epmcnt of Energy Under Contract No. DE-ACOS.S7,WI0594 DRAFT MARSHALL ISLANDSCHRONOLOGY TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . ...ii HISTORIG4L ’BACKGROUND.. ~ CHRONOLOGY . ...1 APPENDIX A- SECTIONS OF THE COCA . ..lK APPENDIX B-ABBREVIATIONS. ...110 APPENDIX C- LIST OF CROUPS INVOLVED WITH MARSHALL ISIANDS DEVELOPMENT . 114 ENDNOTES . .. ..7?6 LIST OF MAPS . ..155 DRAFT ii MARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY INTRODUCTION This draft chronology presents the historical record of events relating to the Department of Energy/Energy Research and Development Administration/Atomic Energy Commission (DOE/ERDA/AEC) medical, environmental, and radiological safety activities in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1990. Among the milestones included are agreements between the Marshake and the United States, particularly those invokg the DOE and its predecessorrs; relocation and resettlement efforts; legal responsibilities assumed by the AEC, the ERD& and the DOE; administration of U.S. government activities in the islandq medical findings; environmental studies; radiation safety criteria applied in the Marshalls and in the U.S.; and U.S. nuclear testing activities in the region. In order to facilitate use of the chronology by those interested in a particular aspect of developments in the Marshall Islands, we have assigned each entry one or more topical headings from the following list ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT CLAIMS CONGRESSIONAL REIATIONSI-IIP CONTRACTOR LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY MEDICAL POLICY PLUTONIUM RADIATION RELOCATION WEAPON TESTING By selecting only those entries under a specific headin~ one can follow more directly the story of any area of particular interes$ such as the DOE medical program, government policy, or legal responsibility.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean Drilling Program Scientific Results Volume
    Haggerty, J.A., Premoli Silva, I., Rack, F., and McNutt, M.K. (Eds.), 1995 Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, Vol. 144 33. PHYSIOGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE OF MARSHALL ISLANDS GUYOTS DRILLED DURING LEG 144: GEOPHYSICAL CONSTRAINTS ON PLATFORM DEVELOPMENT1 Douglas D. Bergersen2 ABSTRACT Drilling during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 144 provided much needed stratigraphic control on guyots in the Marshall Islands. Information from geophysical surveys conducted before drilling and the ages and lithologies assigned to the sediments sampled during Leg 144 make it possible to compare the submerged platforms of Limalok, Lo-En, and Wodejebato with each other and with various islands and atolls in the Hawaiian and French Polynesian chains. The gross physiography and stratigraphy of the platforms drilled during Leg 144 are similar in many respects to modern islands and atolls in French Polynesia: perimeter ridges bound lagoon sediments, transition zones of clay and altered volcaniclastic sediments separate the shallow-water platform carbonates from the underlying volcanic flows, and basement highs rise toward the center of the platforms. Ridges extending from the flanks of these guyots conform in number to rift zones observed on Hawaiian volcanoes. Edifices appear to remain unstable after moving away from the hotspot swell on the basis of fault blocks perched along the flanks of the guyots. The apparent absence of an extensive carbonate platform on Lo-En, the 100-m-thick sequence of Late Cretaceous shallow- water carbonates on Wodejebato, and the 230-m-thick sequence of Paleocene to middle Eocene platform carbonates on Limalok relate to differing episodes of volcanism, uplift, and subsidence affecting platform development.
    [Show full text]
  • Just After the Dawn of the Atomic Age and During the Height of the Cold
    SUNDAY,NOVEMBER10,2019 ASPECIAL REPORTONTHE MARSHALL ISLANDS AMERICAN FALLOUT Just afterthe dawn of the AtomicAge and during the height of the Cold War, the United States conducted67nuclear tests in the Marshall Islandsofthe central Pacific. It has since left this island nation with plutonium and other radioactive remnants of those tests buried under a concretedome on alow-lying atoll. Rising seas nowthreaten to destroy thatdome. RogerViollet Getty Images U2 SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 LATIMES.COM LATIMES.COM SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 U3 AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALLISLANDS JOSEPHINE NOLA and her son Jules, 6, walk from Ejit Island to Majuro. In addi- tion to nuclear arms, the U.S. tested bioweapons on the islands, The Times learned. Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times “THE MARSHALL Islands is avictim of the twogreatest threats facing humanity DURING THEHEIGHT of the Cold Wa r, the U.S. tested hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction on the Marshall Islands. On Enewetak Atoll, radioactive waste nowrestsinaU.S.-built concrete dome thatMarshallese call “the Tomb.” —nuclear weapons and climate change,” an expert says.Above,Majuro, thecapital. Decades after U.S. bombed their home, adisaster looms and Fukushima. Airlines Flight 154, startsatHono- The nuclear detonations over homes, contaminating their skin, SomeMarshalleseseek compensation; others,justasafeplace to live.Onthis Suchdiscoveries could give lulu,makingstops in the Marshall waterand food. Marshallese leadersfresh ammu- Islands at Majuro and Kwajalein the Marshall Islands According to Josephand gov- nition to challenge the 19 86 com- before heading west towardthe Mi- ernment documents, U.S. author- Pacific island nation, whereclimate changethreatens to unearth a‘tomb’of pact, whichisupfor renegotiation cronesian islands of Kosrae, Pohn- ities came to evacuatethe Ronge- Taongi in 2023, and also to press the pei and Chuuk, and finally termi- lapesetwo days later.Bythat time, ColdWar radioactive waste, the UnitedStatesgovernment has turned itsback.
    [Show full text]
  • Report of the United Nations Visiting Mission to the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 1980
    T/1816 REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS VISITING MISSION TO THE TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, 1980 TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL OFFICIAL RECORDS: FORTY -SEVENTH SESSION (May-June 1980) SUPPLEMENT No. 2 UNITED NATIONS T/1816 REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS VISITING MISSION TO THE TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS, 1980 TRUSTEESHIP COUNCIL OFFICIAL RECORDS: FORTY-SEVENTH SESSION (May-June 1980) SUPPLEMENT No. 2 UNITED NATIONS New York, 1980 NOTE Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations document. T/1816 CONTENTS Chapter Paragraphs Page Letter of transmittal vi I. GENERAL • 1 - 173 1 A. Terms of reference •.• 1 - 2 1 B. Composition • 3 1 c. Itinerary . • • • ••. 4 - 8 2 D. Land and people • 9 - 10 2 E. History • 11 18 3 F. Programme of visits and meetings. 19 - 173 4 1. Marshall Islands. 20 - 41 5 2. Ponape. 42 - 71 8 3. Kosrae. 72 - 82 13 4. Truk. 83 - 110 15 5. Yap •• .111 - 124 19 6. Palau • .125 - 151 22 7. Northern Mariana Islands •• .152 - 170 26 8. Heetings with students in Honolulu 29 and Guam, • • • • • • • .171 - 173 29 II. POLITICAL ADVANCE}lliNT .174 - 241 30 A. General •• .174 - 181 30 B. Territorial Government. .182 - 201 32 c. Local governments • . .202 - 209 37 1. State governments .202 - 204 37 2. Municipalities. .205 - 209 37 D. Civil service .210 - 219 38 E. Judiciary .220 - 225 40 F. Political education • .226 - 241 41 III. ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT. .242 - 334 45 A. General • . .242 - 244 45 B.
    [Show full text]