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Radionuclides in Louisiana Soils
Author(s) -
Meriwether John R.,
Beck James N.,
Keeley Dean F.,
Langley M. Pamela,
Thompson Ronald H.,
Young John C.
Publication year - 1988
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/jeq1988.00472425001700040007x
Subject(s) - radionuclide , soil water , environmental science , weathering , environmental chemistry , caesium , nuclear fission product , hydrology (agriculture) , fission products , geology , chemistry , soil science , radiochemistry , geochemistry , physics , geotechnical engineering , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics
Concentrations of natural and man‐made radionuclides including 40 K, 137 Cs, and some of the decay products of 238 U and 232 Th were determined in soil. Samples were taken at a set of permanent radiation monitoring stations and from random points across the state of Louisiana. The concentrations of the radionuclides were found to be correlated with soil suborder: the lowest values found in the Udults of the northern portion of the state and the highest concentrations found in the Aquepts of the flood plains and the Hemists of the coastal marshes, suggesting that processes such as weathering, transport of solids, and dissolution may be fractionating these elements into soils of water environments. The concentration of K was found to vary from 3180 to 24 900 mg kg −1 ; U varied from 2.3 to 4.0 mg kg −1 ; and Th from 8.0 to 24.1 mg kg −1 . Cesium‐137, the fission product, was found only in the top 15 to 20 cm of the soils with no statistically significant aerial distribution across Louisiana.