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The accumulation of fallout radionuclides (FRNs) from nuclear weapons testing and nuclear accidents has been evaluated for over half a century in natural environments; however, until recently their distribution and abundance within glaciers have been poorly understood. Following a series of individual studies of FRNs, specifically 137Cs, 241Am and 210Pb, deposited on the surface of glaciers, we now understand that cryoconite, a material commonly found in the supraglacial environment, is a highly efficient accumulator of FRNs, both artificial and natural. However, the variability of FRN activity concentrations in cryoconite across the global cryosphere has never been assessed. This study thus aims to both synthesize current knowledge on FRNs in cryoconite and assess the controls on variability of activity concentrations. We present a global database of new and previously published data based on gamma spectrometry of cryoconite and proglacial sediments, and assess the extent to which a suite of environmental and physical factors can explain spatial variability in FRN activity concentrations in cryoconite. We show that FRNs are not only found in cryoconite on glaciers within close proximity to specific sources of radioactivity, but across the global cryosphere, and at activity concentrations up to three orders of magnitude higher than those found in soils and sediments in the surrounding environment. We also show that the organic content of cryoconite exerts a strong control on accumulation of FRNs, and that activity concentrations in cryoconite are some of the highest ever described in environmental matrices outside of nuclear exclusion zones, occasionally in excess of 10,000 Bq kg−1. These findings highlight a need for significant improvements in the understanding of the fate of legacy contaminants within glaciated catchments. Future interdisciplinary research is required on the mechanisms governing their accumulation, storage, and mobility, and their potential to create time-dependent impacts on downstream water quality and ecosystem sustainability.

Cryoconite, a sediment found on the surface of glaciers, is known for its ability to accumulate radionuclides. New data on cryoconite from the Morteratsch glacier (Switzerland) are presented with the aim to shed light on the mechanisms that control the distribution of radioactivity in cryoconite. Among the many radionuclides detected in our samples, we have identified 108mAg, an artificial species which has never been observed in terrestrial environments before. This finding supports that cryoconite has an extraordinary ability to accumulate radioactivity. Our results also show that the radioactivity of cryoconite is far from uniform. Both the absolute amount of radioactivity and the relative contribution of single radionuclides is highly variable in samples from the Morteratsch glacier. To investigate the processes responsible for such variability, we have explored the correlation between radionuclides, organic and inorganic carbon fractions and the morphological features of cryoconite deposits. We have found that the degree to cryoconite is connected with supraglacial hydrology is particularly important, since it strongly influences the accumulation of radionuclides in cryoconite. Cryoconite holes connected with supraglacial channels is rich in cosmogenic 7Be; in contrast, poorly connected deposits are rich in artificial fallout radionuclides and elemental carbon. The very different half-lives of 7Be and artificial radionuclides allowed us to discuss our findings in relation to the age and maturity of cryoconite deposits, highlighting the potential use of radionuclides to investigate hydrological supraglacial processes and material cycling at the surface of glaciers.