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Effect of land use and vegetation coverage on level and distribution of plutonium isotopes in the northern Loess Plateau, China

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Abstract

Ten soil cores were collected from slopes and gully bottoms in the Loess Plateau, China, and analyzed for plutonium isotopes to investigate their source, level, and distribution in the Liudaogou Catchment of the Loess Plateau. The soil 240Pu/239Pu atomic ratios (0.158–0.209) suggested that global fallout is the dominant source of Pu in this area. The 239,240Pu inventories (0.94–77.91 Bq m− 2) indicated that up to 80% of Pu was lost due to severe soil erosion in the past decades. Land use types, vegetation coverage, and topography significantly influence the preservation and redistribution of Pu, and alfalfa might be a promising restoration plant for mitigating soil erosion on the northern Loess Plateau.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. XDB40020100, 132B61KYSB20180003); National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant (No. 11875261, 41991252).

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Technology and Application, Xi’an AMS Center, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 710061, Xi’an, China

    Yixuan Liu & Xiaolin Hou

  2. Department of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Risø Campus, DK-4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Xiaolin Hou

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China

    Yixuan Liu

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Liu, Y., Hou, X. Effect of land use and vegetation coverage on level and distribution of plutonium isotopes in the northern Loess Plateau, China. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 332, 989–998 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-022-08675-6

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