title: Migration of fallout-radionuclides in the soil: effect of non-uniformity of the sorption properties on the activity-depth profiles.
abstract: Experimentally observed activity-depth profiles of fallout radionuclides in the soil frequently exhibit a comparatively fast moving tail in soil layers below the peak concentration (tailing). Monte Carlo calculations on the basis of the convection-dispersion model show that this phenomenon can be explained by assuming that either the hydraulic properties of the soil (characterised by the diffusion/dispersion coefficient and pore water velocity) or the sorption properties of the soil (characterised by the distribution coefficient Kd), or both, exhibit a horizontal variability according to a log-normal distribution. Modifications of the activity-depth profile due to a Kd value which decreases linearly with depth were examined by using a random walk approach, based also on the convection-dispersion model. In this case, however, a pronounced tailing effect of the activity-depth profile did not result. Interpretation and realistic modelling of an experimentally observed activity-depth profile which exhibits a tailing effect is thus not unambiguously possible without any additional information on the spatial variability of the hydraulic parameters and, independently, also for the sorption properties.
authors.affiliation: GSF-National Research Centre for Environment and Health, Institute of Radiation Protection, Neuherberg, Germany. bunzl@gsf.de
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bunzl
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive