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/sup 210/Pb and /sup 137/Cs in air and soils measure the rate and vertical profile of aerosol scavenging

Journal Article · · J. Geophys. Res.; (United States)
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We have determined the deposition rates of /sup 210/Pb and /sup 137/Cs from the atmosphere to the landscape of the eastern and mid-western United States by measuring their inventories in core samples of undisturbed soils. The mean inventories in lowland sites are 27.7 dpm cm/sup 2/ for /sup 210/Pb and 21.8 dpm cm/sup -2/ for /sup 137/Cs as of January, 1984. The mean annual concentration of /sup 210/Pb in surface air at the 9 sites of the SURE network decreases smoothly from about 0.060 dpm m/sup -3/ near the Mississippi River to about 0.030 near the Atlantic coast. The ratio of deposition rate to surface air concentration is 0.62 +- 0.03 cm s/sup -1/ for /sup 210/Pb and 1.36 +- 0.08 cm s/sup -1/ for /sup 137/Cs. Using the activity vs. altitude profiles of Moore, et al. (1973), for /sup 210/Pb and the fission product nuclide, /sup 90/Sr, we calculate tropospheric aerosol mean residence times for /sup 210/Pb and /sup 137/Cs, of 4.8 and 5.5 days, respectively. This near equality precludes a rapid decrease of the aerosol scavenging rate constant in the mid-troposphere. The /sup 137/Cs//sup 210/Pb ratios in soils from elevations above 1000 m in the Appalachian Mountains are lower than those in adjacent lowland soils, indicating the preferential removal of aerosols from the lower layer of the troposphere, presumably by cloud droplet impaction or by seeder-feeder clouds.
Research Organization:
Department of Geology and Geophysics Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
OSTI ID:
6861282
Journal Information:
J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Journal Name: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States) Vol. 91:D12; ISSN JGREA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

500300* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
510300 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOLS
AIR
AIR POLLUTION
ALKALI METAL ISOTOPES
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CESIUM 137
CESIUM ISOTOPES
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMISTRY
COLLOIDS
DEPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FLUIDS
GASES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD 210
LEAD ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
MEASURING METHODS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
POLLUTION
PRECIPITATION SCAVENGING
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
RESIDENCE HALF-TIME
SCAVENGING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOILS
SOLS
TROPOSPHERE
WASHOUT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES