Jose M Abril

Se presenta un estudio arqueoastronomico del templo B (siglo I d.C.) del santuario iberoromano de Virtus Iulia (la turdetana Ituci), dedicado a Caelestis Iuno Lucina, y reconstruido en el Parque Arqueologico de Torreparedones. El emplazamiento esta asociado a un calendario de horizonte, en el que los picos de Jabalcuz y Ahillo marcan el orto solar en los equinoccios y el solsticio invernal, respectivamente. Marcadores similares han sido documentados en otros santuarios iberos. La orientacion de la cella sigue los puntos cardinales, quedando el betilo estiliforme y la columna de carga en la direccion N-S. Los detalles de la reconstruccion arqueologica sugieren un ambiente de penumbra para las practicas cultuales. Un lucernario-colimador en el techo habria proyectado un rayo de luz sobre el betilo cada mediodia solar, recorriendo su fuste con el ciclo de las estaciones, como se documenta con la recreacion practicada, que amplia las posibilidades interpretativas hasta ahora manejadas.

Abstract A marine sediment core from the Kattegat area (Sweden) has been studied for dating purposes. The 137 Cs and 210 Pb profiles have been measured and described by a model of incomplete activity mixing. A time-dependent 137 Cs flux function for the sediment has been constructed from atmospheric data and the 137 Cs contents in water from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. It has been used as the 137 Cs input function for our model. The results show that the model clearly reproduces the measured profile.

Phosphogypsum (PG) has been traditionally applied as Ca-amendment in saline marsh soils in SW Spain, where available PG has 710+/-40Bqkg(-1) of 226Ra. This work assesses the potential radiological risk for farmers through 222Rn exhalation from PG-amended soils and by inhalation of PG-dust during its application. A three-year field experiment was conducted in a commercial farm involving two treatments: control and 25tPGha(-1) with three replicates (each 0.5ha plots). The 222Rn exhalation rate was positively correlated with potential evapotranspiration, which explained 67% of the variability. Statistically significant differences between the control and PG treatments were not found for 222Rn exhalation rates, and mean values were within the lowest quartile of the typical range for 222Rn exhalation from soils. Airborne dust samples were collected during the application of PG and sugar-beet sludge amendments. The highest PG-attributable 226Ra concentration in the dust samples was 3.3x10(2)microBqm(-3), implying negligible dose increment for exposed workers.

This paper presents a numerical model for the transport of the nuclear contamination and other passive particles in the ocean. As a consequence of the Chernobyl accident (April, 26 th , 1986), the radioactive plume drift over many countries in Europe, and after some days, the Baltic Sea became the most contaminated ecosystem beyond the Soviet Union. Our Dispersion Model

Settling fluxes and sediment accumulation rates in coastal Tema Harbour (Ghana) were investigated by the combined analyses of results in sediment traps and sediment cores. Sediment traps were deployed at 5 stations within the Tema Harbour at two sampling depths and were retrieved every two weeks till the end of 12weeks to estimate the Settling Fluxes (SFs). Four sediment cores from the harbour were analysed for their radioactivity ((7)Be, (234)Th, (210)Pb, (212)Pb, (226)Ra, (40)K and (137)Cs) profiles to quantify Sediment Accumulation Rates (SARs). The sediment cores exhibited variable bulk density profiles, indicating highly dynamic and non-steady sedimentation conditions. (7)Be-derived gross-estimates of very recent SARs using the constant flux-constant sedimentation (CF-CS) model were in the range of 2.5-9.0g·cm(-2)·y(-1). These values were much lower than the estimated average SFs (15.2-53.8g·cm(-2)·y(-1)), indicating sediment resuspension plays an important role. On a decadal t...