By correlating geologic, geotechnical and geoacoustic data with chirp and side-scan sonar results, it is possible to rapidly describe the local and regional distributions of sediment types on the seafloor and to depths of tens of meters below it. Chirp and side-scan sonar results also provide the means of characterizing seafloor structure and depth. We gain a great deal of basic information about recent environmental processes by interpretating high-resolution seismic data in terms of geological processes and correlating them with sediment characteristics. In summary, this project provides a description of the current concentrations and types of radionuclides being discharged from Russian rivers into the Arctic marginal seas. The sampling plan allows us to assess the regional extent of radionuclide contamination at the mouth of and up-stream in a number of Russian rivers and their bay systems.
Continued monitoring is necessary, however, to protect the Arctic ecosystems and native peoples.