Search for latitudinal trends in the effective half-life of fallout 137 Cs in vegetation of the Canadian Arctic

Using published data on the integrated deposition of fallout 90 Sr ( 137 Cs) until 1975 and current measurements of the, 137 Cs activity in plant communities along the latitudinal gradient north of 50° N, an estimate has been made of the 137 Cs effective half-life, T eff , in the composite vegetatio...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian Journal of Botany
Main Authors: Taylor, H. W., Hutchison-Benson, E., Svoboda, J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:French
Published: Canadian Science Publishing 1985
Subjects:
Plant Science
Alectoria
Arctic
Cladonia rangiferina
Saxifraga oppositifolia
Silene acaulis
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/b85-101
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/b85-101
Description
Summary:Using published data on the integrated deposition of fallout 90 Sr ( 137 Cs) until 1975 and current measurements of the, 137 Cs activity in plant communities along the latitudinal gradient north of 50° N, an estimate has been made of the 137 Cs effective half-life, T eff , in the composite vegetation of the Canadian Arctic. The lichens Alectoria nigricans, Alectoria ochroleuca, Cladonia rangiferina, Cornicularia divergens, and Umbilicaria muhlenbergii were studied, as well as a moss, Polytrichum juniperinum, and the vascular cushion plants Dryas integrifolia, Saxifraga oppositifolia, and Silene acaulis. In all cases, the effective half-life increased with increasing latitude, the longest T eff (10–12 years) being exhibited by dry-habitat lichens at 80° N.

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