Circulation paths of 134Cs in seawater southwest of Japan in 2018 and 2019.

Abstract The spatial variations of low-level 134Cs concentrations (activities) in seawater off the Japanese Archipelago, particularly in the eastern East China Sea (ECS), in 2018 and 2019 were examined. The 134Cs concentrations, decay-corrected to the date of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, in seawaters were 0.5–2.0 mBq/L. High 134Cs concentrations (1.1–2.0 mBq/L) of the Kuroshio Current subsurface water (densities of 25–26σθ) in the eastern ECS could indicated the contribution of the subtropical mode water from the Pacific Ocean side, and total column inventories were 330–426 Bq/m2. In contrast, as indicated by the same 134Cs concentration level at the surface of the eastern ECS and Sea of Japan, larger portions of the subsurface waters remained in the ECS and Yellow Sea side in response to the existence of the shallow Tsushima Strait.