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Natural radionuclides in rocks and soils of the high-mountain regions of the Great Caucasus

  • Degradation, Rehabilitation, and Conservation of Soils
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Abstract

The results of the radioecological survey in the high-mountain regions of the Great Caucasus at the heights from 2200 to 3800 m a.s.l. are considered. This survey encompassed the territories of Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Chechnya, Northern Ossetia-Alania, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and the Stavropol and Krasnodar regions. The natural γ background radiation in the studied regions is subjected to considerable fluctuations and varies from 6 to 40 μR/h. The major regularities of the migration of natural radionuclides 238U, 232Th, 226Ra, and 40K in soils in dependence on the particular environmental conditions (the initial concentration of the radionuclides in the parent material; the intensity of pedogenesis; the intensity of the vertical and horizontal migration; and the geographic, climatic, and landscape-geochemical factors) are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Caspian Institute of the Biological Resources, Dagestan Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Gadzhieva 45, Makhachkala, 367025, Russia

    T. A. Asvarova & A. S. Abdulaeva

  2. Alpine Botanical Garden, Dagestan Science Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Gadzhieva 45, Makhachkala, 367025, Russia

    M. A. Magomedov

Authors
  1. T. A. Asvarova
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  2. A. S. Abdulaeva
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  3. M. A. Magomedov
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Correspondence to T. A. Asvarova.

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Original Russian Text © T.A. Asvarova, A.S. Abdulaeva, M.A. Magomedov, 2012, published in Pochvovedenie, 2012, No. 6, pp. 695–707.

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Asvarova, T.A., Abdulaeva, A.S. & Magomedov, M.A. Natural radionuclides in rocks and soils of the high-mountain regions of the Great Caucasus. Eurasian Soil Sc. 45, 625–637 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229312060026

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229312060026

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