Radiochemical Analysis of Rainwater for the Radionuclides 210Pb and 7Be and their
Deposition History to the Windermere Catchment Lakes (1997-98)

Short, D.B., Appleby, P.G., Hilton, J.

Abstract: A year long monthly record of 210Pb and 7Be atmospheric inputs to the Windermere catchment area is reported. Directly measured fluxes are compared with indirect archive measurements. An analytical methodology for the extraction of metals from rainwater, based on co-precipitation with manganese oxide, was developed for the extraction of the two radionuclides. The annual deposition from April 1997 to March 1998 of 210Pb and 7Be was found to be 166.9 ± 12.9 Bq m-2 and 3901 ± 163 Bq m-2 respectively; compared with an indirect 210Pb flux of 153 Bq m-2 yr-1 calculated from soil core records.

If you are interested in hearing more about this type of work you can read the full article located below.


The Institute of Freshwater Ecology (now CEH Windermere) on the shore of Lake Windermere,
Cumbria, UK. I traveled to Windermere frequently to collect the rainwater samples required for this study.
 


Location of IFE sampling station, Esthwaite Water, Cumbria.
 


Collecting the samples from IFE (Photo by Amy Berger)


 210Pb and 7Be deposition at Esthwaite Water  vs. calendar  month 1997-98.
 

Publications Resulting from this Work:

Short, D.B., Appleby, P.G., and Hilton, J,

Appleby, P.G., Haworth, E.Y., Michel, H., Short, D.B., Laptev, G. and Piliosian, G.T. (2003) The transport and mass balance of fallout radionuclides in Blelham Tarn, Cumbria (UK). Journal of Paleolimnology, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 459-473.

Appleby P. G., Haworth, E. Y., Michel, H., Barci, G., Short, D. B., Simon, B. M, Lawler, A. J., Laptev, G, Merino, J. (1999) Large-scale and long-term environmental behaviour of transuranic elements as modelled through European surface water systems - UK sites. Report to the European Commission under contract no: F14PCT960046, 45 pp.

Short, D. B. (1999) Quantitative Models of Lake Sediments and Atmospheric Fluxes PhD, The Univeristy of Liverpool, Liverpool, 98 pp.