Problems in Determining Spatial Inhomogeneity of 137Cs Fallout for Estimating Rates of Erosion-Accumulative Processes

V. N. Golosov, M. V. Markelov, V. R. Belyaev, and O. M. Zhukova

The issues of assessing variability of 137Cs fallout of global and Chernobyl origin at reference sites are discussed with a purpose to use this isotope as a tracer for estimating the rates of erosion-accumulative processes. It is shown that local variability of soil contamination by 137Cs at reference sites is within 7–20%, which makes it possible to use the isotope as a tracer. When studies are conducted within drainage basins, the available trend of the atmospheric 137Cs fallout should be taken into account in assessing the soil and sedimentation redistribution.