The role of soil erosion and fluvial processes in the post-fallout redistribution of Chernobyl-derived caesium-137: a case study of the Lapki catchment, Central Russia

The central area of the Russian Plain received substantial amounts Cs-137 f allout as a result of the Chernobyl accident in 1986, with inventories exce eding 40 kBq m(-2) in many of the areas close to Chernobyl. Concern over th e longer-term fate of this contamination has focused attention on the need to predict the post-fallout redistribution of the radiocaesium and, thus, f uture changes in the spatial distribution of contamination in the landscape . Since radiocaesium reaching the land surface as fallout is rapidly and st rongly adsorbed by soil and sediment particles, any attempt to predict its post-fallout redistribution must focus on erosion and sediment delivery pro cesses and must rely heavily on a knowledge of the geomorphological process es involved. This paper reports a detailed investigation of post-fallout Cs -137 redistribution in the 2.18-km(2) Lapki catchment in the Middle-Russian Upland, which has required consideration of soil erosion processes, sedime nt delivery pathways, sediment delivery ratios and sediment sinks. The time elapsed since the Chernobyl accident is currently insufficient to result i n significant reduction of Cs-137 inventories in eroding areas, but areas o f deposition on both the lower slopes and on the balka sides and bottoms ar e already marked by significant increases in Cs-137 inventories. The result s obtained emphasise that any attempt to develop meaningful predictions of the longer-term redistribution of Chernobyl-derived Cs-137 fallout within t he Russian Plain must be based on a sound and detailed understanding of the linkage between the slopes and the balka systems and the fate of sediment entering the balka systems. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reser ved.