Chernobyl radionuclides in the environment: tracers for the tight coupling of atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic geochemical processes

Observations of the temporal trend in concentrations of Chernobyl radionuclides in atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic reservoirs near Dübendorf (Zurich) aided in quantifying fluxes and transfer velocities from one reservoir to another. Radionuclide dry and wet deposition rates and velocities from the atmosphere, washout from the catchment basins into surface waters, and deposition rates and mechanisms in lakes were determined. The results from these studies were compared to those from earlier observations on the fate of the radionuclides released by bomb tests, from reactor accidents, and from the purposeful tracer experiments in lakes. The results from our observations indicate the extent to which the Chernobyl radionuclides trace the movement of other atmospheric trace contaminants in the environment.