Surficial redistribution of fallout ¹³¹iodine in a small temperate catchment.

ABSTRACT: Isotopes of iodine play significant environmental roles, including a limiting micronutrient ((127)I), an acute radiotoxin ((131)I), and a geochemical tracer ((129)I). But the cycling of iodine through terrestrial ecosystems is poorly understood, due to its complex environmental chemistry and low natural abundance. To better understand iodine transport and fate in a terrestrial ecosystem, we traced fallout (131)iodine throughout a small temperate catchment following contamination by the 11 March 2011 failure of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. We find that radioiodine fallout is actively and efficiently scavenged by the soil system, where it is continuously focused to surface soils over a period of weeks following deposition. Mobilization of historic (pre-Fukushima) (137)cesium

SUBMITTER: Landis JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3306680 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature