Annual variation of (7)Be soil inventory in a semiarid region of central Argentina.

Reliable information on environmental radionuclides atmospheric entrance, and their distribution along the soil profile, is a necessary condition for using these soil and sediment tracers to investigate key environmental processes. To address this need, (7)Be content in rainwater and the wet deposition in a semiarid region at San Luis Province, Argentina, were studied. Following these researches, in the same region, we have assessed the (7)Be content along a soil profile, during 2.5 years from September 2009 to January 2012. As expected, the specific activity values in soil samples in the wet period (November-April) were higher than in the dry period (May-October). During the investigated period (2009 - beginning 2012) and for all sampled points, the maximum value of the (7)Be specific activity (Bq kg(-1)) was measured at the surface level. A typical decreasing exponential function of (7)Be areal activity (Bq m(-2)) with soil mass depth (kg m(-2)) was found and the key distribution parameters were determined for each month. The minimum value of areal activity was 51 Bq m(-2) in August, and the maximum was 438 Bq m(-2) in February. The relaxation mass depth ranges from 2.9 kg m(-2) in March to 1.3 kg m(-2) in August. (7)Be wet deposition can explain in a very significant proportion the (7)Be inventory in soil. During the period of winds in the region (September and October), the (7)Be content in soil was greater than the expected contribution from wet deposition, situation that is compatible with a higher relative contribution of dry deposition at this period of the year.

Assessment of 7Be content in precipitation in a South American semi-arid environment.

There are two naturally occurring radiogenic isotopes of beryllium, 7Be and ¹°Be. These are produced when cosmic radiation interacts with oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere. After production, these radionuclides are input to ecosystems through wet and dry deposition. In recent years 7Be and ¹°Be have proved to be powerful tools for studying dynamic processes that occur on the surface of the earth. We measured the 7Be content in precipitation at a semiarid location in central Argentina. From November 2006 to March 2009, 68 precipitation events were collected. Measured 7Be content ranged from 0.7±0.4 Bq L⁻¹ to 3.2±0.7 Bq L⁻¹, with a mean of 1.7 Bq L⁻¹ ±0.6 Bq L⁻¹. Beryllium-7 content of rainfall did not show clear relationships with amount of rainfall (mm), mean intensity (mm h⁻¹) or duration (h⁻¹), or elapsed time between events (day). The general results indicate that for the typical range of precipitation there was no atmospheric washout and that the reload of the atmosphere is not a relevant factor, but when the amount of precipitation is very high washout may occur. On the other hand, when the 7Be content was measured during single rain events, a high content of this radionuclide was found to be associated with very low rainfall intensity (≈3 mm h⁻¹), this suggests that rain intensity could affect the 7Be content. Using all data, a good linear relationship between 7Be deposition and rain magnitude was obtained (r²=0.82, p<0.0001). Because of this, the slope of this linear regression equation may be applied as a tool for tracing environmental processes that affect the surface of the earth. We can do this by directly estimating erosion/sedimentation processes using 7Be or by estimating the input of ¹°Be in the environment with the aim to evaluate land degradation phenomena.

Short-term seasonal variability in 7Be wet deposition in a semiarid ecosystem of central Argentina.

The (7)Be wet deposition has been intensively investigated in a semiarid region at San Luis Province, Argentina. From November 2006 to May 2008, the (7)Be content in rainwater was determined in 58 individual rain events, randomly comprising more than 50% of all individual precipitations at the sampling period. (7)Be activity concentration in rainwater ranged from 0.7+/-0.3 Bq l(-1) to 3.2+/-0.7 Bq l(-1), with a mean value of 1.7 Bq l(-1) (sd=0.53 Bq l(-1)). No relationship was found between (7)Be content in rainwater and (a) rainfall amount, (b) precipitation intensity and (c) elapsed time between events. (7)Be ground deposition was found to be well correlated with rainfall amount (R=0.92). For the precipitation events considered, the (7)Be depositional fluxes ranged from 1.1 to 120 Bq m(-2), with a mean value of 32.7 Bq m(-2) (sd=29.9 Bq m(-2)). The annual depositional flux was estimated at 1140+/-120 Bq m(-2)y(-1). Assuming the same monthly deposition pattern and that the (7)Be content in soil decreases only through radioactive decay, the seasonal variation of (7)Be areal activity density in soil was estimated. Results of this investigation may contribute to a valuable characterization of (7)Be input in the explored semiarid ecosystem and its potential use as tracer of environmental processes.

Characterisation of uranium(VI) sorption by two environmental fungal species using gamma spectrometry.

Uranium(VI) sorption by two highly uranium-resistant air-borne fungi in a low-pH medium was measured by means of gamma spectrometry. Growth kinetics and stoichiometry of the two fungal species were also studied. Results show acceptable growth rates in synthetic medium with glucose and ammonia as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. Typical oxidative metabolism of carbohydrates was found. In vivo uptake of the radionuclide was negligible, but biosorption dry biomass presented a remarkable performance. The fungal strains showed potential for use in bioremediation.

210Pb dating of sediments in a heavily contaminated drainage channel to the La Plata estuary in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Concentrations of (210)Pb and (137)Cs in sediment samples collected from two cores at a drainage channel to the La Plata river estuary in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were measured using ultralow-background detection systems. The (210)Pb data were used to determine the rate of sediment accumulation of the sites. These results were correlated with some heavy metal (chromium and lead) concentrations of the samples in an attempt to characterize the historical input of contaminants due to the industrial development, which has taken place in this area over the last century. The (137)Cs measurements demonstrate that cesium dating is not adequate in regions of the southern hemisphere.

137Cs contamination in tea and yerba mate in South America.

Gamma-ray spectra from more than 50 samples of food products available in stores of Buenos Aires city were measured using a germanium detector. Activity concentrations of 137Cs up to 10 Bq/kg were found in tea and yerba mate manufactured in Apóstoles, Argentina. Further measurements of tea leaves, yerba mate leaves and soils, all coming from a cultivated area in that region, also show the presence of 137Cs contamination. The results suggest that the area was fertilized with a product that originated in a region affected by the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident.