Soils Role in the Restoration of Terrestrial Sites Contaminated with Radioactivity

Abstract

For part of the population soil is only a material which supports roads and buildings or which can be used to construct dikes. Nomenclature is simple, for the first purpose one needs sand, for the second one clay. Soils scientists, however, have many ways to describe soils. Many popular soil names are based on a mixture of the appearance of the soil and its use in historical times. Some well known names as podsol (sandy soil which leached top layer), chernozem (black soil) and rendzina (calcareous soil) are from Russian or Polish origin and are relatively well defined by their name. Other names as peat bog soil define a soil less well. A very sophisticated system is based on a recommendation of the International Society of Soil Science, and propagated by FAO and UNESCO. Some old names are maintained -but having now a strict definition-, others have been added. Additions as “eutric” for fertile soils, “dystric” for infertile soils, “gleyic” -again Russian- for waterlogged soils complete the names. The peat bog upland soils are in this system called “dystric gleysols”. It might well be that part of the high uncertainties which are so common in radioecological soil related parameters would be less if the proper names could be applied. For the time being there is a lack of well documented data and experience among radioecologists. Soil scientists, however, have more possibilities for classification, eg one based on texture. The most important fractions in this system are: clay (< 2 µm), silt (2—50 µm) and sand (50µm—2 mm). The popular term “loam” is missing, loam is a mixture of fractions with a dominating medium texture fraction.