The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan
Abstract A large quantity of radionuclides was released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011, and those deposited on ground and vegetation could return to the atmosphere through resuspension processes. Although the resuspension has been proposed to occur with wind blow...
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2018-02-01
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Series: | Progress in Earth and Planetary Science |
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Online Access: | http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40645-018-0171-z |
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Article |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Takeshi Kinase Kazuyuki Kita Yasuhito Igarashi Kouji Adachi Kazuhiko Ninomiya Atsushi Shinohara Hiroshi Okochi Hiroko Ogata Masahide Ishizuka Sakae Toyoda Keita Yamada Naohiro Yoshida Yuji Zaizen Masao Mikami Hiroyuki Demizu Yuichi Onda |
spellingShingle |
Takeshi Kinase Kazuyuki Kita Yasuhito Igarashi Kouji Adachi Kazuhiko Ninomiya Atsushi Shinohara Hiroshi Okochi Hiroko Ogata Masahide Ishizuka Sakae Toyoda Keita Yamada Naohiro Yoshida Yuji Zaizen Masao Mikami Hiroyuki Demizu Yuichi Onda The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan Progress in Earth and Planetary Science Radiocesium Atmospheric radioactivity Seasonal variation Resuspension Fukushima Nuclear accident |
author_facet |
Takeshi Kinase Kazuyuki Kita Yasuhito Igarashi Kouji Adachi Kazuhiko Ninomiya Atsushi Shinohara Hiroshi Okochi Hiroko Ogata Masahide Ishizuka Sakae Toyoda Keita Yamada Naohiro Yoshida Yuji Zaizen Masao Mikami Hiroyuki Demizu Yuichi Onda |
author_sort |
Takeshi Kinase |
title |
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan |
title_short |
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan |
title_full |
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan |
title_fullStr |
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan |
title_full_unstemmed |
The seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, Japan |
title_sort |
seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of tsushima and yamakiya, fukushima, japan |
publisher |
SpringerOpen |
series |
Progress in Earth and Planetary Science |
issn |
2197-4284 |
publishDate |
2018-02-01 |
description |
Abstract A large quantity of radionuclides was released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011, and those deposited on ground and vegetation could return to the atmosphere through resuspension processes. Although the resuspension has been proposed to occur with wind blow, biomass burning, ecosystem activities, etc., the dominant process in contaminated areas of Fukushima is not fully understood. We have examined the resuspension process of radiocesium (134,137Cs) based on long-term measurements of the atmospheric concentration of radiocesium activity (the radiocesium concentration) at four sites in the contaminated areas of Fukushima as well as the aerosol characteristic observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the measurement of the biomass burning tracer, levoglucosan. The radiocesium concentrations at all sites showed a similar seasonal variation: low from winter to early spring and high from late spring to early autumn. In late spring, they showed positive peaks that coincided with the wind speed peaks. However, in summer and autumn, they were correlated positively with atmospheric temperature but negatively with wind speed. These results differed from previous studies based on data at urban sites. The difference of radiocesium concentrations at two sites, which are located within a 1 km range but have different degrees of surface contamination, was large from winter to late spring and small in summer and autumn, indicating that resuspension occurs locally and/or that atmospheric radiocesium was not well mixed in winter/spring, and it was opposite in summer/autumn. These results suggest that the resuspension processes and the host particles of the radiocesium resuspension changed seasonally. The SEM analyses showed that the dominant coarse particles in summer and autumn were organic ones, such as pollen, spores, and microorganisms. Biological activities in forest ecosystems can contribute considerably to the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons. During winter and spring, soil, mineral, and vegetation debris were predominant coarse particles in the atmosphere, and the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons can be attributed to the wind blow of these particles. Any proofs that biomass burning had a significant impact on atmospheric radiocesium were not found in the present study. |
topic |
Radiocesium Atmospheric radioactivity Seasonal variation Resuspension Fukushima Nuclear accident |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40645-018-0171-z |
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doaj-1b99fee97efb49ce81ecc2733c0c0b542020-11-25T00:49:06ZengSpringerOpenProgress in Earth and Planetary Science2197-42842018-02-015111710.1186/s40645-018-0171-zThe seasonal variations of atmospheric 134,137Cs activity and possible host particles for their resuspension in the contaminated areas of Tsushima and Yamakiya, Fukushima, JapanTakeshi Kinase0Kazuyuki Kita1Yasuhito Igarashi2Kouji Adachi3Kazuhiko Ninomiya4Atsushi Shinohara5Hiroshi Okochi6Hiroko Ogata7Masahide Ishizuka8Sakae Toyoda9Keita Yamada10Naohiro Yoshida11Yuji Zaizen12Masao Mikami13Hiroyuki Demizu14Yuichi Onda15Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Ibaraki UniversityCollege of Science, Ibaraki UniversityAtmospheric Environment and Applied Meteorology Research Department, Meteorological Research InstituteAtmospheric Environment and Applied Meteorology Research Department, Meteorological Research InstituteGraduate School of Science, Osaka UniversityGraduate School of Science, Osaka UniversityFaculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda UniversityFaculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda UniversityFaculty of Engineering, Kagawa UniversityDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of TechnologyDepartment of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of TechnologyForecast Research Department, Meteorological Research Institute, Japan Meteorological AgencyJapan Meteorological Business Support CenterCollege of Engineering, Ibaraki UniversityCenter for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics, University of TsukubaAbstract A large quantity of radionuclides was released by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011, and those deposited on ground and vegetation could return to the atmosphere through resuspension processes. Although the resuspension has been proposed to occur with wind blow, biomass burning, ecosystem activities, etc., the dominant process in contaminated areas of Fukushima is not fully understood. We have examined the resuspension process of radiocesium (134,137Cs) based on long-term measurements of the atmospheric concentration of radiocesium activity (the radiocesium concentration) at four sites in the contaminated areas of Fukushima as well as the aerosol characteristic observations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the measurement of the biomass burning tracer, levoglucosan. The radiocesium concentrations at all sites showed a similar seasonal variation: low from winter to early spring and high from late spring to early autumn. In late spring, they showed positive peaks that coincided with the wind speed peaks. However, in summer and autumn, they were correlated positively with atmospheric temperature but negatively with wind speed. These results differed from previous studies based on data at urban sites. The difference of radiocesium concentrations at two sites, which are located within a 1 km range but have different degrees of surface contamination, was large from winter to late spring and small in summer and autumn, indicating that resuspension occurs locally and/or that atmospheric radiocesium was not well mixed in winter/spring, and it was opposite in summer/autumn. These results suggest that the resuspension processes and the host particles of the radiocesium resuspension changed seasonally. The SEM analyses showed that the dominant coarse particles in summer and autumn were organic ones, such as pollen, spores, and microorganisms. Biological activities in forest ecosystems can contribute considerably to the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons. During winter and spring, soil, mineral, and vegetation debris were predominant coarse particles in the atmosphere, and the radiocesium resuspension in these seasons can be attributed to the wind blow of these particles. Any proofs that biomass burning had a significant impact on atmospheric radiocesium were not found in the present study.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40645-018-0171-zRadiocesiumAtmospheric radioactivitySeasonal variationResuspensionFukushimaNuclear accident |