| Abstrakt: |
To reveal the distribution patterns of pollutants in the elementary landscape-geochemical systems (ELGS) (top–slope–closing depression), the 137Cs distribution was studied in detail in the soil–moss cover of the test site, which characterizes undisturbed forest landscapes subjected to the fallout of technogenic radionuclides during the Chernobyl accident. Over the thirty years after the primary contamination, no unidirectional 137Cs migration from top to the closing depression was found in the ELGS. In contrast, all studied ELGS show the well expressed 137Cs cyclical variation, which is traced both in the soil and in the vegetation (moss) cover. The pattern of 137Cs variability in the moss cover is generally similar to the surface soil contamination, but in some cases demonstrates specific features. At present, the top 8-cm soil layer contains from 70 to 96% of total 137Cs content of soil cover, while 0–20-cm layer hosts 89–99% 137Cs. Such vertical distribution makes it possible to apply field spectrometry technique for study of the spatial structure of 137Cs contamination field. The 137Cs content in the photosynthesizing part of the moss best correlates with its reserve in the 2–4 cm soil layer (r0.01 = 0.747, n = 15). The revealed structural heterogeneity results from secondary redistribution of the radionuclide in ELGS and, in our opinion, reflects the general regularities of element migration in such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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