Be-10 in the atmosphere and soils

Thesis/Dissertation · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:5099749

Monaghan, M C

The distributions of the particle-associated radionuclides Be-10, Pb-210, Be-7, Sr-90, Cs-137, and Pu-239,240 have been documented in the atmosphere and soils in an effort to determine their short and long term transport behavior, and to explore their utility in studies of Earth surface processes. Be-10 is focused upon, because of its known association with particles, its unique source (production in the atmosphere) and long half-life (1.5 x 10/sup 6/ years). Be-10, Sr-90, and Pb-210 concentrations have been determined for precipitation collections at seven sites in the continental US and one site in southwest Greenland. Be-10 and Sr-90 fluxes are predicted from historical patterns of Sr-90 flux, mean annual precipitation data, deviations from mean annual precipitation, and calculated Be-10 production rates. The measured and predicted SR-90 fluxes agree, while the measured Be-10 fluxes are much higher than those predicted. The excess Be-10 flux is attributed to the resuspension of soil material, followed by its deposition in the precipitation collectors. Be-10, Be-7, Pb-210, Cs-137, and Pu-239,240 have been studied in soil profiles from California to evaluate the input rates of these radionuclides from the atmosphere and the retentivity of soils for particle-associated nuclides. The results indicate that the studied soils retain the entire burden of the short-lived radionuclides delivered to them and that the short term transport behaviors of Pb-210, Cs-137 and Pu-239,240 in the studied soils are similar.

• Research Organization: Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5099749
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
510301 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- Soil-- (-1987)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BERYLLIUM 10
BERYLLIUM 7
BERYLLIUM ISOTOPES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
EVEN-ODD NUCLEI
HALF-LIFE
HEAVY NUCLEI
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LAND POLLUTION
LEAD 210
LEAD ISOTOPES
LIGHT NUCLEI
MASS TRANSFER
MONITORING
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
PLUTONIUM 239
PLUTONIUM 240
PLUTONIUM ISOTOPES
POLLUTION
RADIATION MONITORING
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SOILS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES