Fallout beryllium-7 as a tracer in soil erosion investigations.
Recent developments in the use of the environmental radionuclides 137Cs and 210Pb for documenting medium-term soil erosion rates must be seen as an important advance. However, measurements of these radionuclides provide estimates of medium-term (i.e. ca. 45 or 100 years) soil redistribution rates and there is a need to explore the potential for using complementary radionuclides, to estimate erosion rates associated with individual events or short periods. Beryllium-7 (7Be, t0.5 = 53 days) has the potential to fulfil these requirements. This contribution presents some preliminary results from an investigation undertaken in a field near Crediton, UK, which successfully demonstrates the potential for using 7Be as a tracer in soil erosion investigations.
Blake
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WH
Department of Geography, University of Exeter, UK.
Walling
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DE
He
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D001608:Beryllium / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D006207:Half-Life; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D006113:United Kingdom
D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D011868:Radioisotopes; D012987:Soil; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D001608:Beryllium