Abstract
Stable 133Cs was measured in soil and vegetation samples taken from a coniferous forest in Bavaria, Germany. This site has been under continuous investigation since 1987, mainly with respect to radiocaesium. Soil profiles for stable 133Cs, expressed in mg kg -1 dry weight, and radioactive 134Cs and 137Cs, expressed in Bq kg -1 dry weight, were established for 1993, 1995, and 1996, and compared. The profile for Chernobyl 134Cs shows a clear maximum in the Of and Oh horizon. The profiles for weapons fallout 137Cs and stable 133Cs are similar for the organic layers including the Ah horizon. Both profiles exhibit a gradual increase from the L to the Ah horizon, in contrast to the profile for Chernobyl 134Cs. For four edible fungal species ( Clitocybe nebularis (Batsch: Fr.) Kummer, Xerocomus badius (Fr.) Kühner ex Gilbert, Hydnum repandum L. ex Fr., and Russula cyanoxantha (Schaeffer ex Fries)) and one plant species (leaves of bilberry [ Vaccinium myrtillus L.], berries edible), transfer factors for stable 133Cs were calculated on the basis of its concentration in those soil layers, from which the corresponding species takes up radiocaesium. Using this definition, transfer factors for radioactive 134Cs agree within a factor of 2 or better with the corresponding transfer factors for stable 133Cs. Since the stable 133Cs is expected to have attained a dynamic equilibrium within the forest ecosystem, the similar bioavailability for stable 133Cs and radiocaesium indicates that the current distribution of stable 133Cs within the organic soil layers and understory vegetation represents the equilibrium distribution which is expected for decay-corrected radioactive 134Cs and 137Cs several decades after deposition. It is concluded that the transfer factors for radiocaesium will not change with time from several years after deposition onwards, at least for species which take up radiocaesium predominantly from the organic soil layers.
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