title: Radioactive contamination of soils in lower Saxony, Germany, after the Chernobyl accident.
abstract: The horizontal and spatial distribution of artificial and natural radionuclides in soils, and the vertical migration velocity of 0.8-2.0 cm per annum for caesium were examined in order to determine whether caesium is still in the root zone of major plants and, therefore, part of the food-chain. The vertical distribution patterns of caesium are dependent on the different physico-chemical soil properties. The soil samples were analysed with a pure Ge detector. In south-eastern Lower Saxony, the maximum gamma-activity for 137Cs of 33.3 kBq m-2 was found in a depth range of 0-20 cm (January 1, 1989). This was correlated with areas that had received heavy rainfall on May 4, 1986. On January 1, 1989 approximately 60% of the Chernobyl caesium was still in the top 0-2 cm of the topsoil.
authors.affiliation: Federal Institute of Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faas
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents; D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D005843:Geography; D005858:Germany; D009688:Nuclear Reactors; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013997:Time Factors; D014455:Ukraine
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive