title: Long-term behaviour of 137Cs in spruce bark in coniferous forests in the Czech Republic.
abstract: Activity concentrations of (137)Cs were detected in more than 400 outer spruce bark samples collected at sites variably affected by Chernobyl fallout across the Czech Republic in 1995 and 2010. The temporal changes in the (137)Cs activities were found. The mean effective half-life (TEF) for (137)Cs in spruce bark was 9.6 years, and the mean environmental half-life (TE) was 14 years. The effective half-lives were significantly higher in areas with higher long-term annual precipitation sums. Coefficient a in linear regression y = ax + b of half-lives on precipitation sums was 0.015 y mm(-1) for TEF and 0.036 y mm(-1) for TE. The aggregated transfer factor of (137)Cs from soil to bark was determined and the pre-Chernobyl bark contamination related to year 2010 was estimated.
authors.affiliation: National Radiation Protection Institute, Bartoskova 28, CZ 140 00 Prague 4, Czech Republic. Electronic address: petr.rulik@suro.cz.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rulík
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pilátová
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suchara
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sucharová
mesh_terms: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D018153:Czech Republic; D006207:Half-Life; D028222:Picea / Q000737:chemistry*; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011847:Radioactive Fallout / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D002588:Cesium Radioisotopes; D011847:Radioactive Fallout; D011848:Radioactive Pollutants
keywords: (137)Cs in spruce bark; Aggregated transfer factor; Effective half-life; Environmental half-life