Multiannual variations in radioactive pollution of the Barent-Kara region (1960–2013)

The contemporary dynamics of radionuclide activity in the Barents-Kara Region has a tendency to decrease to the minimal values possible in the nuclear epoch. The activity level reflects the volume of global 137Cs and 90Sr precipitation in the areas of the North Atlantic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea, and the basins of North European and Siberian rivers. The influence of sea bottom topography on local distribution of sediment suspension within the shelf is a determinative one. The differences between various concentrations depending on the relief can reach two three times. Argillic sediments with a pelite fraction of more than 50% can be used as an integrated indicator of radioactive contamination of marine ecosystems. Modern radioecological studies in the marine Arc tic zone should be directed at monitoring, investigating the regularities of radionuclides redistribution and mechanisms of self purification in marine ecosystems, and revealing the areas of accumulation of artificial radionuclides.