Investigation of the vertical distribution and speciation of 137Cs in soil profiles at burnt and unburnt forest sites in the Belarusian Exclusion Zone. (September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dowdall, M.; Bondar, Y.; Skipperud, L.; Zabrotski, V.; Pettersen, M. Nandrup; Selnæs, Ø.G.; Brown, J.E.
• Is Part Of: Journal of environmental radioactivity. Volume 175/176(2017)
• Page Start: 60
• Page End: 69
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Subjects: Belarus -- Forest soils -- Radionuclides -- 137Cs speciation -- Forest fire effects -- Chernobyl; Radioactivity -- Periodicals; Radiation, Background -- Periodicals; Radioecology -- Periodicals; Radioactive pollution -- Periodicals; Environmental Pollutants -- Periodicals; Radioactive Pollutants -- Periodicals; Radioactivity -- Periodicals; Radioécologie -- Périodiques; Pollution radioactive -- Périodiques; Fond de rayonnement -- Périodiques; 539.752
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvrad.2017.04.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0265-931X

Abstract

Abstract: The effects of fire events on contaminant radionuclides within soils of the Belarusian Exclusion Zone were investigated. A number of cores were taken from locations known to have been subject to fire events in the past as well as a series of cores from nearby unburnt locations. Both burnt and unburnt cores were analyzed for contaminant radionuclides as well as a range of relevant soil parameters. The distribution of 137 Cs between various fractions (reversibly bound, irreversibly bound and insoluble) was analyzed. Results indicate no evidence of enhancement or enrichment of radionuclides within the soil column although this does not negate the possibility that such effects were evident at some point in the past, the fire events at two of the sites having occurred almost ten years earlier. Evidence was present of a persistent effect on how 137 Cs was distributed between different fractions of the soil, primarily in relation to the proportions associated with oxides of Fe and Mn and organic matter. The results of the study appear to indicate that the long-term effects of a forest fire on contaminant 137 Cs within the soil column are expressed through changes in the physico-chemical forms of the nuclide to a larger extent than simple redistribution of the contaminant within the soil column. Highlights: The long term effect of fire on 137 Cs in soil was studied. Changes in soil properties still evident years after fire events. Apparent persistent changes in the physico-chemical forms of 137 Cs in soil column.