Casacuberta Nuria

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Last Name
Casacuberta
First Name
Nuria
ORCID
0000-0001-7316-1655

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Article
    Sr-90 and Sr-89 in seawater off Japan as a consequence of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident
    (Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union, 2013-06-03) Casacuberta, Nuria ; Masqué, Pere ; Garcia-Orellana, Jordi ; Garcia-Tenorio, R. ; Buesseler, Ken O.
    The impact of the earthquake and tsunami on the east coast of Japan on 11 March 2011 caused a loss of power at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant (NPP) that resulted in one of the most important releases of artificial radioactivity into the environment. Although several works were devoted to evaluating the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides, the impact of the discharges to the ocean has been less investigated. Here we evaluate the distribution of Fukushima-derived 90Sr (n = 57) and 89Sr (n = 19) throughout waters 30–600 km offshore in June 2011. Concentrations of 90Sr and 89Sr in both surface waters and shallow profiles ranged from 0.8 ± 0.2 to 85 ± 3 Bq m−3 and from 19 ± 6 to 265 ± 74 Bq m−3, respectively. Because of its short half-life, all measured 89Sr was due to the accident, while the 90Sr concentrations can be compared to the background levels in the Pacific Ocean of about 1.2 Bq m−3. Fukushima-derived radiostrontium was mainly detected north of Kuroshio Current, as this was acting as a southern boundary for transport. The highest activities were associated with near-shore eddies, and larger inventories were found in the closest stations to Fukushima NPP. The data evidence a major influence of direct liquid discharges of radiostrontium compared to the atmospheric deposition. Existing 137Cs data reported from the same samples allowed us to establish a 90Sr / 137Cs ratio of 0.0256 ± 0.0006 in seawater off Fukushima, being significantly different than that of the global atmospheric fallout (i.e., 0.63) and may be used in future studies to track waters coming from the east coast of Japan. Liquid discharges of 90Sr to the ocean were estimated, resulting in an inventory of 53 ± 1 TBq of 90Sr in the inshore study area in June 2011 and total releases of 90Sr ranging from 90 to 900 TBq, depending upon the reported estimates of 137Cs releases that are considered.
  • Preprint
    Marine radioecology after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident : are we better positioned to understand the impact of radionuclides in marine ecosystems?
    ( 2017-10-31) Vives i Batlle, Jordi ; Aoyama, Michio ; Bradshaw, Clare ; Brown, Justin E. ; Buesseler, Ken O. ; Casacuberta, Nuria ; Christl, Marcus ; Duffa, Celine ; Impens, Nathalie R. E. N. ; Iosjpe, Mikhail ; Masqué, Pere ; Nishikawa, Jun
    This paper focuses on how a community of researchers under the COMET (CO-ordination and iMplementation of a pan European projecT for radioecology) project has improved the capacity of marine radioecology to understand at the process level the behaviour of radionuclides in the marine environment, uptake by organisms and the resulting doses after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident occurred in 2011. We present new radioecological understanding of the processes involved, such as the interaction of waterborne radionuclides with suspended particles and sediments or the biological uptake and turnover of radionuclides, which have been better quantified and mathematically described. We demonstrate that biokinetic models can better represent radionuclide transfer to biota in non-equilibrium situations, bringing more realism to predictions, especially when combining physical, chemical and biological interactions that occur in such an open and dynamic environment as the ocean. As a result, we are readier now than we were before the FDNPP accident in terms of having models that can be applied to dynamic situations. The paper concludes with our vision for marine radioecology as a fundamental research discipline and we present a strategy for our discipline at the European and international levels. The lessons learned are presented along with their possible applicability to assess/reduce the environmental consequences of future accidents to the marine environment and guidance for future research, as well as to assure sustainability of marine radioecology in Europe and globally. This guidance necessarily reflects on why and where further research funding is needed, signalling the way for future investigations.
  • Article
    Radium isotopes across the Arctic Ocean show time scales of water mass ventilation and increasing shelf inputs
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2018-07-13) Rutgers van der Loeff, Michiel M. ; Kipp, Lauren ; Charette, Matthew A. ; Moore, Willard S. ; Black, Erin E. ; Stimac, Ingrid ; Charkin, Alexander ; Bauch, Dorothea ; Valk, Ole ; Karcher, Michael ; Krumpen, Thomas ; Casacuberta, Nuria ; Smethie, William M. ; Rember, Robert
    The first full transarctic section of 228Ra in surface waters measured during GEOTRACES cruises PS94 and HLY1502 (2015) shows a consistent distribution with maximum activities in the transpolar drift. Activities in the central Arctic have increased from 2007 through 2011 to 2015. The increased 228Ra input is attributed to stronger wave action on shelves resulting from a longer ice‐free season. A concomitant decrease in the 228Th/228Ra ratio likely results from more rapid transit of surface waters depleted in 228Th by scavenging over the shelf. The 228Ra activities observed in intermediate waters (<1,500 m) in the Amundsen Basin are explained by ventilation with shelf water on a time scale of about 15–18 years, in good agreement with estimates based on SF6 and 129I/236U. The 228Th excess below the mixed layer up to 1,500 m depth can complement 234Th and 210Po as tracers of export production, after correction for the inherent excess resulting from the similarity of 228Ra and 228Th decay times. We show with a Th/Ra profile model that the 228Th/228Ra ratio below 1,500 m is inappropriate for this purpose because it is a delicate balance between horizontal supply of 228Ra and vertical flux of particulate 228Th. The accumulation of 226Ra in the deep Makarov Basin is not associated with an accumulation of Ba and can therefore be attributed to supply from decay of 230Th in the bottom sediment. We estimate a ventilation time of 480 years for the deep Makarov‐Canada Basin, in good agreement with previous estimates using other tracers.
  • Article
    Quantifying Po-210/Pb-210 disequilibrium in seawater: a comparison of two precipitation methods with differing results
    (Frontiers Media, 2021-06-22) Roca-Martí, Montserrat ; Puigcorbé, Viena ; Castrillejo, Maxi ; Casacuberta, Nuria ; Garcia-Orellana, Jordi ; Cochran, J. Kirk ; Masqué, Pere
    The disequilibrium between lead-210 (210Pb) and polonium-210 (210Po) is increasingly used in oceanography to quantify particulate organic carbon (POC) export from the upper ocean. This proxy is based on the deficits of 210Po typically observed in the upper water column due to the preferential removal of 210Po relative to 210Pb by sinking particles. Yet, a number of studies have reported unexpected large 210Po deficits in the deep ocean indicating scavenging of 210Po despite its radioactive mean life of ∼ 200 days. Two precipitation methods, Fe(OH)3 and Co-APDC, are typically used to concentrate Pb and Po from seawater samples, and deep 210Po deficits raise the question whether this feature is biogeochemically consistent or there is a methodological issue. Here, we present a compilation of 210Pb and 210Po studies that suggests that 210Po deficits at depths >300 m are more often observed in studies where Fe(OH)3 is used to precipitate Pb and Po from seawater, than in those using Co-APDC (in 68 versus 33% of the profiles analyzed for each method, respectively). In order to test whether 210Po/210Pb disequilibrium can be partly related to a methodological artifact, we directly compared the total activities of 210Pb and 210Po in four duplicate ocean depth-profiles determined by using Fe(OH)3 and Co-APDC on unfiltered seawater samples. While both methods produced the same 210Pb activities, results from the Co-APDC method showed equilibrium between 210Pb and 210Po below 100 m, whereas the Fe(OH)3 method resulted in activities of 210Po significantly lower than 210Pb throughout the entire water column. These results show that 210Po deficits in deep waters, but also in the upper ocean, may be greater when calculated using a commonly used Fe(OH)3 protocol. This finding has potential implications for the use of the 210Po/210Pb pair as a tracer of particle export in the oceans because 210Po (and thus POC) fluxes calculated using Fe(OH)3 on unfiltered seawater samples may be overestimated. Recommendations for future research are provided based on the possible reasons for the discrepancy in 210Po activities between both analytical methods.
  • Article
    The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017
    (Elsevier, 2018-06-01) Schlitzer, Reiner ; Anderson, Robert F. ; Dodas, Elena Masferrer ; Lohan, Maeve C. ; Geibert, Walter ; Tagliabue, Alessandro ; Bowie, Andrew R. ; Jeandel, Catherine ; Maldonado, Maria T. ; Landing, William M. ; Cockwell, Donna ; Abadie, Cyril ; Abouchami, Wafa ; Achterberg, Eric P. ; Agather, Alison ; Aguliar-Islas, Ana ; van Aken, Hendrik M. ; Andersen, Morten ; Archer, Corey ; Auro, Maureen E. ; Baar, Hein J. W. de ; Baars, Oliver ; Baker, Alex R. ; Bakker, Karel ; Basak, Chandranath ; Baskaran, Mark ; Bates, Nicholas R. ; Bauch, Dorothea ; van Beek, Pieter ; Behrens, Melanie K. ; Black, Erin E. ; Bluhm, Katrin ; Bopp, Laurent ; Bouman, Heather ; Bowman, Katlin ; Bown, Johann ; Boyd, Philip ; Boye, Marie ; Boyle, Edward A. ; Branellec, Pierre ; Bridgestock, Luke ; Brissebrat, Guillaume ; Browning, Thomas A. ; Bruland, Kenneth W. ; Brumsack, Hans-Jürgen ; Brzezinski, Mark A. ; Buck, Clifton S. ; Buck, Kristen N. ; Buesseler, Ken O. ; Bull, Abby ; Butler, Edward ; Cai, Pinghe ; Cámara Mor, Patricia ; Cardinal, Damien ; Carlson, Craig ; Carrasco, Gonzalo ; Casacuberta, Nuria ; Casciotti, Karen L. ; Castrillejo, Maxi ; Chamizo, Elena ; Chance, Rosie ; Charette, Matthew A. ; Chaves, Joaquin E. ; Cheng, Hai ; Chever, Fanny ; Christl, Marcus ; Church, Thomas M. ; Closset, Ivia ; Colman, Albert S. ; Conway, Tim M. ; Cossa, Daniel ; Croot, Peter L. ; Cullen, Jay T. ; Cutter, Gregory A. ; Daniels, Chris ; Dehairs, Frank ; Deng, Feifei ; Dieu, Huong Thi ; Duggan, Brian ; Dulaquais, Gabriel ; Dumousseaud, Cynthia ; Echegoyen-Sanz, Yolanda ; Edwards, R. Lawrence ; Ellwood, Michael J. ; Fahrbach, Eberhard ; Fitzsimmons, Jessica N. ; Flegal, A. Russell ; Fleisher, Martin Q. ; van de Flierdt, Tina ; Frank, Martin ; Friedrich, Jana ; Fripiat, Francois ; Fröllje, Henning ; Galer, Stephen J. G. ; Gamo, Toshitaka ; Ganeshram, Raja S. ; Garcia-Orellana, Jordi ; Garcia Solsona, Ester ; Gault-Ringold, Melanie ; George, Ejin ; Gerringa, Loes J. A. ; Gilbert, Melissa ; Godoy, Jose Marcus ; Goldstein, Steven L. ; Gonzalez, Santiago ; Grissom, Karen ; Hammerschmidt, Chad R. ; Hartman, Alison ; Hassler, Christel ; Hathorne, Ed C. ; Hatta, Mariko ; Hawco, Nicholas J. ; Hayes, Christopher T. ; Heimbürger, Lars-Eric ; Helgoe, Josh ; Heller, Maija Iris ; Henderson, Gideon M. ; Henderson, Paul B. ; van Heuven, Steven ; Ho, Peng ; Horner, Tristan J. ; Hsieh, Yu-Te ; Huang, Kuo-Fang ; Humphreys, Matthew P. ; Isshiki, Kenji ; Jacquot, Jeremy E. ; Janssen, David J. ; Jenkins, William J. ; John, Seth ; Jones, Elizabeth M. ; Jones, Janice L. ; Kadko, David ; Kayser, Rick ; Kenna, Timothy C. ; Khondoker, Roulin ; Kim, Taejin ; Kipp, Lauren ; Klar, Jessica K. ; Klunder, Maarten ; Kretschmer, Sven ; Kumamoto, Yuichiro ; Laan, Patrick ; Labatut, Marie ; Lacan, Francois ; Lam, Phoebe J. ; Lambelet, Myriam ; Lamborg, Carl H. ; le Moigne, Frederique ; Le Roy, Emilie ; Lechtenfeld, Oliver J. ; Lee, Jong-Mi ; Lherminier, Pascale ; Little, Susan ; López-Lora, Mercedes ; Lu, Yanbin ; Masque, Pere ; Mawji, Edward ; McClain, Charles R. ; Measures, Christopher I. ; Mehic, Sanjin ; Menzel Barraqueta, Jan-Lukas ; Merwe, Pier van der ; Middag, Rob ; Mieruch, Sebastian ; Milne, Angela ; Minami, Tomoharu ; Moffett, James W. ; Moncoiffe, Gwenaelle ; Moore, Willard S. ; Morris, Paul J. ; Morton, Peter L. ; Nakaguchi, Yuzuru ; Nakayama, Noriko ; Niedermiller, John ; Nishioka, Jun ; Nishiuchi, Akira ; Noble, Abigail E. ; Obata, Hajime ; Ober, Sven ; Ohnemus, Daniel C. ; van Ooijen, Jan ; O'Sullivan, Jeanette ; Owens, Stephanie A. ; Pahnke, Katharina ; Paul, Maxence ; Pavia, Frank ; Pena, Leopoldo D. ; Peters, Brian ; Planchon, Frederic ; Planquette, Helene ; Pradoux, Catherine ; Puigcorbé, Viena ; Quay, Paul D. ; Queroue, Fabien ; Radic, Amandine ; Rauschenberg, Sara ; Rehkämper, Mark ; Rember, Robert ; Remenyi, Tomas A. ; Resing, Joseph A. ; Rickli, Joerg ; Rigaud, Sylvain ; Rijkenberg, Micha J. A. ; Rintoul, Stephen R. ; Robinson, Laura F. ; Roca-Martí, Montserrat ; Rodellas, Valenti ; Roeske, Tobias ; Rolison, John M. ; Rosenberg, Mark ; Roshan, Saeed ; Rutgers van der Loeff, Michiel M. ; Ryabenko, Evgenia ; Saito, Mak A. ; Salt, Lesley ; Sanial, Virginie ; Sarthou, Geraldine ; Schallenberg, Christina ; Schauer, Ursula ; Scher, Howie ; Schlosser, Christian ; Schnetger, Bernhard ; Scott, Peter M. ; Sedwick, Peter N. ; Semiletov, Igor P. ; Shelley, Rachel U. ; Sherrell, Robert M. ; Shiller, Alan M. ; Sigman, Daniel M. ; Singh, Sunil Kumar ; Slagter, Hans ; Slater, Emma ; Smethie, William M. ; Snaith, Helen ; Sohrin, Yoshiki ; Sohst, Bettina M. ; Sonke, Jeroen E. ; Speich, Sabrina ; Steinfeldt, Reiner ; Stewart, Gillian ; Stichel, Torben ; Stirling, Claudine H. ; Stutsman, Johnny ; Swarr, Gretchen J. ; Swift, James H. ; Thomas, Alexander ; Thorne, Kay ; Till, Claire P. ; Till, Ralph ; Townsend, Ashley T. ; Townsend, Emily ; Tuerena, Robyn ; Twining, Benjamin S. ; Vance, Derek ; Velazquez, Sue ; Venchiarutti, Celia ; Villa-Alfageme, Maria ; Vivancos, Sebastian M. ; Voelker, Antje H. L. ; Wake, Bronwyn ; Warner, Mark J. ; Watson, Ros ; van Weerlee, Evaline ; Weigand, M. Alexandra ; Weinstein, Yishai ; Weiss, Dominik ; Wisotzki, Andreas ; Woodward, E. Malcolm S. ; Wu, Jingfeng ; Wu, Yingzhe ; Wuttig, Kathrin ; Wyatt, Neil ; Xiang, Yang ; Xie, Ruifang C. ; Xue, Zichen ; Yoshikawa, Hisayuki ; Zhang, Jing ; Zhang, Pu ; Zhao, Ye ; Zheng, Linjie ; Zheng, Xin-Yuan ; Zieringer, Moritz ; Zimmer, Louise A. ; Ziveri, Patrizia ; Zunino, Patricia ; Zurbrick, Cheryl
    The GEOTRACES Intermediate Data Product 2017 (IDP2017) is the second publicly available data product of the international GEOTRACES programme, and contains data measured and quality controlled before the end of 2016. The IDP2017 includes data from the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans, with about twice the data volume of the previous IDP2014. For the first time, the IDP2017 contains data for a large suite of biogeochemical parameters as well as aerosol and rain data characterising atmospheric trace element and isotope (TEI) sources. The TEI data in the IDP2017 are quality controlled by careful assessment of intercalibration results and multi-laboratory data comparisons at crossover stations. The IDP2017 consists of two parts: (1) a compilation of digital data for more than 450 TEIs as well as standard hydrographic parameters, and (2) the eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas providing an on-line atlas that includes more than 590 section plots and 130 animated 3D scenes. The digital data are provided in several formats, including ASCII, Excel spreadsheet, netCDF, and Ocean Data View collection. Users can download the full data packages or make their own custom selections with a new on-line data extraction service. In addition to the actual data values, the IDP2017 also contains data quality flags and 1-σ data error values where available. Quality flags and error values are useful for data filtering and for statistical analysis. Metadata about data originators, analytical methods and original publications related to the data are linked in an easily accessible way. The eGEOTRACES Electronic Atlas is the visual representation of the IDP2017 as section plots and rotating 3D scenes. The basin-wide 3D scenes combine data from many cruises and provide quick overviews of large-scale tracer distributions. These 3D scenes provide geographical and bathymetric context that is crucial for the interpretation and assessment of tracer plumes near ocean margins or along ridges. The IDP2017 is the result of a truly international effort involving 326 researchers from 25 countries. This publication provides the critical reference for unpublished data, as well as for studies that make use of a large cross-section of data from the IDP2017. This article is part of a special issue entitled: Conway GEOTRACES - edited by Tim M. Conway, Tristan Horner, Yves Plancherel, and Aridane G. González.