SOIL SAMPLING IN COMPLEX TERRAIN

A procedure is described for recovering a representative soil sample f rom complex terrain for the purpose of determining the integrated radi onuclide inventory deposited in the area. The precision of the invento ry estimates is shown to be +/- 10% or less for Cs-137 and Pu-239+240, and there is no statistically significant bias in the inventory estim ates for the sampling location compared to the estimates made by other techniques. In complex terrains, the radiochemical composition of the soil beneath the unvegetated surfaces (desert pavement), grass, bush, and trees is shown to vary. These variations are interpreted to be du e to changes in the translocation efficiency of panicles of different size from the desert pavement to the soil beneath the vegetated covers .