ARS | Publication request: IAEA HANDBOOK ON NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENTATION-CHAPTER 1

Submitted to: IAEA Fourth Research Committee Meeting on the Soil Erosion
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: October 10, 2002
Publication Date: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This chapter describes the use of Cs-137 as a tracer to document soil erosion and sedimentation and the potential of other radionuclides such as Pb-210 and Be-210 for these studies. The problems that can be addressed with the Cs-137 technique are described. The basic principles and assumptions of the technique are described, leading to a discussion of its advantages and limitations. Applications of the technique worldwide and th existing database are presented. Specific reference are made to the recent studies and their role in the standardization of the technique in range of environments. The different activities and steps for application of the technique will be outlined. This chapter provides an introduction, history, and background for the application of radionuclides for measuring erosion and sediment deposition rates. The handbook will be the how-to reference on the application of radionuclides for measuring erosion and sediment deposition rates.

Technical Abstract: This Introductory Chapter provides the background and history of the application of radionuclides (Cs-137, Pb-210, and Be-7) for measuring erosion and sediment deposition rates. The chapter introduces a Handbook that contains the recent developments made in the refinement and standardization of methodology of radionuclide techniques for the assessment of soil erosion and sedimentation. The other chapters in the Handbook will provide a review of the scientific basis, technical information, and methodology for using radionuclides, primarily Cs-137 and Pb-210 to measure soil redistribution and determine the geochronology of sediment deposits. These methods are often the only way to get actual measurements of soil loss and deposition or sediment chronology. Of fundamental importance to these studies are sound strategies for sampling sediment records, and appropriate techniques for retrieving cores and processing sub-samples of them for radiometric assay.