Behavior of Iodine in a Forest Plot, an Upland Field and a Paddy Field in the Upland Area of Tsukuba, Japan. Iodine Concentration in Precipitation, Irrigation Water, Ponding Water and Soil Water to a Depth of 2.5 m

Abstract

In the course of a series of studies conducted to investigate the long-term behavior of 129I (which has a half-life of 16 million years) in the environment, the concentration of stable iodine (127I) in precipitation, irrigation water and soil water to a depth of 2.5 m in a forest plot, an upland field and a paddy field in the upland area of Tsukuba, Japan, was determined. In the forest plot, the mean iodine concentrations in soil water at all the depths ranged from 0.13 to 0.21 μg L−1, about one-tenth of the values recorded in precipitation (weighted mean 2.1 μg L−1). This finding suggests that the major part of iodine in precipitation was sorbed onto the surface soil horizon under oxidative conditions. In the upland field, the mean iodine concentration in soil water was 2.2 μg L−1 at a depth of 0.2 m and it decreased to 0.34–0.44 μg L−1 at a depth of 0.5 m or more; these concentrations were about one-fifth of that in precipitation. This suggested that the major part of the iodine derived from precipitation was sorbed onto the subsurface soil horizon (at depths between 0.2 and 0.5 m). In the paddy field, during the non-irrigation period, the mean iodine concentrations in soil water at all the depths ranged from 1.8 to 4.8 μg L−1, almost the same values as those recorded in precipitation. During the irrigation period, the mean iodine concentrations at depths of 0.2 and 0.5 m were 18.8 and 16.7 μg L−1, values higher than the 10.9 μg L−1 value recorded in irrigation water and the 11.8 μg L−1 value recorded in ponding water. However, at a depth of 1.0 m or more, the mean iodine concentrations in soil water rapidly decreased from 7.3 to 1.8 μg L−1. These data suggested that a significant amount of iodine flowed out from the paddy field by surface runoff and a considerable amount of iodine that leached to a depth of 0.5 m was retained onto the mildly oxidative soil horizon (2Bw) that lay at depths between 0.5 and 1.0 m. At a depth of 2.5 m in the paddy field, the mean iodine concentration in soil water decreased to 1.8 μg L−1, but this level was much higher than those in the forest plot and upland field at the same depth, which suggested that a significant amount of iodine had leached into the groundwater-bearing layer. There was a negative correlation (r=-0.889) between the Eh of soil and the iodine concentration in soil water (0.2 m depth) of the paddy field. Particularly, when the Eh of soil fell below approximately 150 mV, the iodine concentration rapidly increased to above 10μg L−1. As for the chemical forms of iodine in precipitation, irrigation water, ponding water and soil water during the winter irrigation period in the paddy field with oxidative conditions, 58–82% of iodine consisted of IO− 3 and 17–42% of iodine consisted of I−. In the soil water during the summer irrigation period in the paddy field under reductive conditions, 52–58% of iodine consisted of I−, and 42–47% consisted of IO− 3.