| Radionuclides and chemicals being released into the Arctic from sites in the former Soviet Union are commonly bound to sediments and transported great distances by arctic sea ice. Release of these sediment could potentially be contaminating the subsistence and commercial fisheries, and marine mammals of northern Alaska. The USGS has been an international leader in polar geologic studies for more than 20 years and is a leader in understanding basin-wide sediment dispersal by ice. Consequently, researchers at the USGS are leading national and international studies teams from the Office of Naval Research, Department of Energy, NSF, Universities, Germany, and Canada, focused on sediment and contaminant transport and deposition by ice, and are participating in US, German, Russian and Canadian icebreakers and field operations addressing this issue.
Also, see the NOAA Arctic Theme web pages.
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Ice block containing sediment bands
on coastal beach of Northern Alaska.
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