Vertical transfer of137Cs in peat soils fallen out as a consequence of the chernobyl accident

On the basis of measurements of the specific radioactivity of soil specimens sampled with a small step along their deposition, depth profiles are plotted for the curves of the vertical change in¹³⁷Cs in peat soils not treated since the Chernobyl accident. A theoretical analysis is provided for the plotted profiles that shows that the vertical transfer of¹³⁷Cs in these soils is described adequately within the framework of a model that accounts for the processes of diffusion and convection of the radionuclide in the soil solution and its sorption by the solid phase of the soil. The parameters of the model are determined and a prediction is given for the migration character of¹³⁷Cs.Institute of Solid State Physics, Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 33–38, January–February, 1995.