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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 June 2009
A study of spatial structure of 137Cs contamination field was performed 1,8 km north to set. St. Vyshkov, Bryansk oblast in pine forest on the Iput river terrace with sandy podzolic soils and pronounced relief. 137Cs was used as a tracer of atmospheric pollutant migration to test the hypothesis of a regular character of the secondary 137Cs redistribution in natural landscapes and its dependence on landscape structure. In 2005–2007 95% to 98% of the total 137Cs activity was still preserved in the upper 15–20-cm soil layer. Field gamma–spectrometry performed in nested grids (5 m for the whole area; 1 m for 5 × 5 m plot; 0,2 m for 1 × 1 m plot) revealed a system of 137Cs polycentric anomalies at different scales. Detailed cross-sections along and cross the slopes with the step of 0,5 m and 1 m showed specific wave-like variation of surface activity often inversely related to micro-relief that is believed to result from 137Cs involvement in water and snow-melting mass migration after the aerial fallout. In mosses 137Cs also showed regular spatial distribution related to that in topsoil. The study proved that technogenic radionuclides formed a definite spatial polycentric structure in natural landscapes that should be accounted of in sampling strategy and in estimates of spatial variation.