Comparison of Pu and 137Cs as tracers of soil and sediment transport in a terrestrial environment

Everett, S.E.; Tims, S.G.; Hancock, Gary; Bartley, Rebecca; Fifield, L.K.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2007.10.019

Cited by 97 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…[14]) have been used as soil and sediment tracers [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. Like 137 C, they fell out in rain and attached strongly to soil particles upon reaching Earth's surface, and like 137 Cs, they have been shown to be suitable tracers of soil erosion and sediment transport [16,19,21,25]. On reaching Earth's surface the particle reactive Pu is held in the surface soil layers where it binds to hydrous oxide soil coatings [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Lal

Fifield

Tims

et al. 2015

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. The Daly River drains a large (52500 km 2 ) and mainly undisturbed catchment in the Australian wet-dry tropics. Clearing and cropping since 2002 have raised concerns about possible increased sediment input into the river and motivated this study of its fine sediment sources. Using 239 Pu as a tracer it is shown that the fine sediments originate mainly from erosion by gullying and channel change. Although the results also indicate that the surface soil contribution to the river channel sediments from sheet erosion has increased to 5-22% for the Daly River and 7-28% for the Douglas River (a tributary of the Daly River) in 2009 vs. 3-6% for the Daly River and 4-9% for the Douglas River in 2005. This excess top soil likely originates from the cleared land adjacent to the Daly River since 2005. However, channel widening largely as a result of hydrologic change is still the dominant sediment source in this catchment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Lal

Fifield

Tims

et al. 2015

EPJ Web of Conferences

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“…There is also evidence that their concentrations can be well correlated in soils and sediments collected from different land-use types [e.g. 4,9]. The similar behaviour of Pu and Cs in soils, combined with the superior statistical precision of the AMS measurements, should permit Pu measurements to be referenced against existing 137 Cs soil inventory data.…”

Section: -P2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The total released activity was an order of magnitude less than that of Cs, and plutonium fallout from the tests was not widely monitored; however the historical fallout pattern is believed to show a structure similar to that of caesium [2]. In terms of its suitability as a replacement for 137 Cs, there is growing evidence that Pu and Cs display similar particle-reactive behaviour in terrestrial environments [3][4][5]. Furthermore, the long half-lives of 239 Pu (t 1/2 = 24,110a) and 240 Pu (t 1/2 = 6561a) has resulted in the radioactive decay of only This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2 0 , which .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of the AMS system at the Australian National University (ANU) as configured for Pu measurements. Soil and sediment samples are prepared at the ANU for AMS analysis based on the techniques described in [4]. This entails addition of a 242 Pu spike to the homogenised soil or sediment material, and the plutonium is then leached from the sample with hot nitric acid and purified using ion exchange columns.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Actinides, accelerators and erosion

Tims

Fifield

2012

EPJ Web of Conferences

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Abstract. Fallout isotopes can be used as artificial tracers of soil erosion and sediment accumulation. The most commonly used isotope to date has been 137 Cs. Concentrations of 137 Cs are, however, significantly lower in the Southern Hemisphere, and furthermore have now declined to 35% of original values due to radioactive decay. As a consequence the future utility of 137 Cs is limited in Australia, with many erosion applications becoming untenable within the next 20 years, and there is a need to replace it with another tracer. Plutonium could fill this role, and has the advantages that there were six times as many atoms of Pu as of 137 Cs in fallout, and any loss to decay has been negligible due to the long half-lives of the plutonium isotopes. Uranium-236 is another long-lived fallout isotope with significant potential for exploitation as a tracer of soil and sediment movement. Uranium is expected to be more mobile in soils than plutonium (or caesium), and hence the 236 U/Pu ratio will vary with soil depth, and so could provide an independent measure of the amount of soil loss. In this paper we discuss accelerator based ultra-sensitive measurements of plutonium and 236 U isotopes and their advantages over 137 Cs as tracers of soil erosion and sediment movement.

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“…Furthermore, plutonium radioisotopes ( 239+240 Pu) have been successfully used as a chronostratigraphic marker in Australia and New Zealand (Everett et al, 2008;Leslie and Hancock, 2008;Sanders et al, 2016;Tims et al, 2013). However, Pu radionuclides have not been used extensively in the South American continent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

<sup>240+239</sup>Pu depositional signatures as a viable geochronological tool in the Amazon Basin

et al. 2017

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Anthropogenic radionuclide signatures associated with nuclear testing are increasingly utilized in environmental science to explore recent sedimentation. In this study, we assess the suitability of Pu radioisotope analysis in floodplain lake environments in the Amazon Basin to form geochronologies during the 20 th century. The 240 Pu + 239 Pu ( 240+239 Pu) signatures in six sediment cores indicate sediment accumulation rates in the floodplain lakes of the major rivers; Amazon (2.3 mm year -1 ), Tapajos (10.2 and 2.4 mm year -1 ) and Madeira (3.4, 4.2 and 6.2 mm year -1 ). The results from this study show that 240+239 Pu fallout activities, and the well documented ( 240 Pu/ 239 Pu) atomic ratios of the above ground nuclear tests which began in the 1950's, are sufficient and well preserved in Amazon floodplain lake sediments to infer chronologies. Lead-210 dating analyses in the same sediment cores produced comparable sediment accumulation rates at three of the six sites. The differences between dating methods may be attributed to the different time scale these dating methods represent and/or in the solubility between Pb and Pu along the sediment column. The geochronologies derived from the 240+239 Pu and 210 Pb dating methods outlined in this work are of interest to identify the effects of changing sediment accumulation rates during the previous century as a result of development, including deforestation, along the Amazon Basin which increased towards the middle of the 20 th century. This study shows that Pu dating provides a viable alternative geochronology tool for recent sediment accumulation (previous ~60 years) along the Amazon Basin.

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Comparison of Pu and 137Cs as tracers of soil and sediment transport in a terrestrial environment

Cited by 97 publications

References 38 publications

Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Actinides, accelerators and erosion

<sup>240+239</sup>Pu depositional signatures as a viable geochronological tool in the Amazon Basin

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Comparison of Pu and 137Cs as tracers of soil and sediment transport in a terrestrial environment

Cited by 97 publications

References 38 publications

Using239Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Using239Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Actinides, accelerators and erosion

<sup>240+239</sup>Pu depositional signatures as a viable geochronological tool in the Amazon Basin

Contact Info

Product

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Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia

Using²³⁹Pu as a tracer for fine sediment sources in the Daly River, Northern Australia