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Erosional Removal of Fallout Plutonium from a Large Midwestern Watershed
Author(s) -
Sprugel Douglas G.,
Bartelt Gordon E.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
journal of environmental quality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 171
eISSN - 1537-2537
pISSN - 0047-2425
DOI - 10.2134/jeq1978.00472425000700020004x
Subject(s) - plutonium , sediment , watershed , environmental science , erosion , hydrology (agriculture) , plutonium 240 , geology , plutonium 239 , chemistry , geomorphology , radiochemistry , geotechnical engineering , physics , quantum mechanics , machine learning , computer science , fission , neutron
The Great Miami River at Sidney, Ohio, drains a 1,401‐km 2 watershed which is generally flat and predominantly agricultural. Samples of river water collected over a wide range of flow and sediment loading conditions showed that the concentrations of 239,240 Pu in filtered water and suspended sediment were fairly constant, with means of 0.15 fCi/liter for water and 14 fCi/g for suspended sediment. Plutonium concentrations in suspended sediment are somewhat higher than plow‐layer soil concentrations, probably due to settling of larger soil particles in ponds and backwaters in the upper reaches of the river. Annual plutonium transport from the watershed by erosion averages 1.2 mCi, or 0.9 pCi/m 2 , which is about 0.05% of the total plutonium in the watershed soil. The primary mechanism for plutonium removal is erosion of small soil particles to which the element is sorbed.