Impact of distance from the glacier on the content of 137Cs and 90Sr in the lichen Cetrariella delisei

Abstract

The Arctic region is substantially a pristine area, but this unique part of the globe has also been contaminated by anthropogenic radioactive nuclides, and now there is still measurable activity of anthropogenic isotopes, even though more than 50 years have passed since the main source. Radionuclides in the Arctic, especially 90Sr have seldom been studied despite their considerable environmental importance. This manuscript covers the results of 90Sr and 137Cs measurements in soil and lichen Cetrariella delisei collected from the Svalbard in 2012. In both lichen thalli and surface soils high activities of 90Sr and 137Cs were recorded and ranged between 3.69 and 28.1 Bq kg−1 90Sr and 5.38–280.1 Bq kg−1137Cs in thalli and between 4.53 and 12.78 Bq kg−1dw 90Sr and 60.6–426.1 Bq kg−1dw 137Cs in surface soil layer. The activity of 90Sr and 137Cs in lichen thalli was influenced by distance from the glacier. This showed that during radionuclide biomonitoring of particular area with the use of lichens, it is important to take into account influence of environmental variability on radionuclides contents.