The amount of chromosomal damage induced in synchronous V79 cells by either 250 kV X-rays or 4.6 MeV/u Ar ions (LET: 1850 keV/microns) was determined at five successive sampling times. The experiments show that the time course of the appearance of damaged cells is strongly influenced by radiation-induced cell cycle perturbations and mitotic delay and depends on radiation quality and dose. The yield of chromosomal damage was found to increase with sampling time, but this increase was more pronounced for Ar ions. Because of the observed differences in the yield time profiles induced by sparsely and densely ionizing radiation the contribution of each sample to the overall damage was considered, i.e. the total (time integrated) amount of damage was determined. The obtained data are interpreted in terms of differences in the spatial energy deposition by sparsely and densely ionizing radiation.