Evaluating the runoff of global-fallout cesium-137 from landscapes of the Ob river basin

• Published in: Water resources Vol. 42; no. 7; pp. 889 - 896
• Main Authors: Semenkov, I. N., Miroshnikov, A. Yu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.12.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Environmental Pollution; Freshwater; Geochemistry; Geographic information systems; Hydrogeology; Hydrology/Water Resources; River basins; Runoff; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Russia, Krasnoyarskiy, Ob R; cesium-137; global radionuclide fallouts; geographic information system (GIS); geochemical barrier zone; landscape-geochemical arena
• ISSN: 0097-8078; 1608-344X
• DOI: 10.1134/S0097807815070118

The activity of cesium-137 from global atmospheric fallouts was studied in the soils of three 1 st order catchment basins in the taiga, subtaiga, and forest-steppe zones in the Ob basin. Cesium-137 runoff from those catchment basins was evaluated to give 0.48–5.0 in the taiga, 14.9–15.3 in the subtaiga, and 14.1–15.7 mCi km –2 . in the forest-steppe zones. The published data on sediment delivery coefficients and the leveloped typification of river basins were used to extrapolate the obtained data on 137 Cs runoff to the area of developed semihumid and humid river basins under natural vegetation. The runoff of global-fallout 137 Cs from the Ob Basin never exceeds 4% of its total reserves.