Migration and bioavailability of 137Cs in forest soil of southern Germany

Establishment of control site baseline data for erosion studies using radionuclides: a case study in East Slovenia

“…In undisturbed soils, 137 Cs concentrations below the upper few centimeters typically decrease exponentially with depth (Mabit et al, 2008a). Especially in the humus layer of forest soils, the retention of the 137 Cs is mainly related to the high presence of soil colloids and the biological cycling and the microbiological immobilization of 137 Cs (Rigol et al, 1998;Konopleva et al, 2009). In this study, the average mass activity of 137 Cs in the soil layer of 0e10 cm was high in comparison with the results from other studies from the region reviewed by Jankovic et al (2008).…”

Influence of fertilizing on the 137Cs soil–plant transfer in a spruce forest of Southern Germany

“…However, these uncertainties associated with the predicted transfer factors using the RIP approach can be avoided in selected cases, when a series of samples can be studied e.g. in this work or to explain the influence of the kind of stocking on radionuclide-uptake in forest (Konopleva et al, 2009). Under normal field conditions the RIP approach is not feasible because the effort to access its input parameters is too high.…”

“…TF determination was done for sites 13, 14, 16, 17 fertilized and 30 and 31 non-fertilized at the date of sampling. Five more sites in non-fertilized spruce forest in the neighbourhood were studied and the results are given in Konopleva et al (2009). Those results are considered in this discussion as well.…”

“…These equations are used to predict the values of TF, the transfer of 137 Cs from the root zone to the plant. The same equations were used by Konopleva et al (2009) to explain that in spruce forest the bioavailability of radiocaesium was on average seven times higher than in mixed forest on sites in the neighbourhood to those of this study (Lindner et al, 1994). Soil pH was measured in 0.01 M CaCl 2 using a solid-liquid ratio of 1:2.5 for mineral layers and a solid-liquid ratio of 1:5 for organic layers after 2 h of equilibration.…”

Radiation-induced impacts on the degradation of 2,4-D and the microbial population in soil microcosms

“…Today the emitted radioactive iodine, except 129 I, no longer has any effect due to physical decay. However, due to the long half-life and the chemical similarity to potassium and calcium, the residence time of 137 Cs and 90 Sr in the upper soil can amount to several decades (Gastberger et al, 2000;Rafferty et al, 2000;Konopleva et al, 2009). Due to the large input of nutrients, organic matter, warmer temperatures and the sufficient exchange of gases (such as carbon dioxide and oxygen) in upper soil layers, the amount and activity of microorganisms is high.…”