Abstract
The Chernobyl radioactivity plume arrived in eastern Canada by a combined Arctic and trans-Atlantic route on 7–9 May 1986, 11 days after the initial releases in the USSR. The composition of the plume over Canada underwent significant modifications on 16 May and 25 May before the concentrations of Chernobyl-labelled aerosols declined to levels below the detection level by the second week in June. The initial plume was distinguished by a comparatively large gaseous (61% of total) versus particulate 131I fraction which decreased by a factor of 2 upon the arrival of the second component of the Chernobyl plume on 16–17 May. The second component of the plume was also characterized by a higher concentration of 103Ru. Atmospheric residence times of approximately 11·1 and 11·5 days were estimated for 137Cs and 131I associated aerosols, respectively, based on the decrease with time in their concentration ratios with respect to 7Be. Measurements of Chernobyl radionuclides in lichen samples were introduced into a lichen transport model to estimate uptake rates for each radionuclide. A deposition velocity of 1·1 cm/sec provided good agreement between the model and experimental results. The deposition velocities estimated from the lichen model were combined with the atmospheric residence time data to calculate a plume height of 10 000 m for the Chernobyl cloud as it passed over eastern Canada.
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