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Beryllium-7 activity concentration in maize during the growth period

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Abstract

Beryllium-7 (7Be) activity in maize was measured in Yangling County, Shaanxi Province, on the Loess Plateau Region of China in 2007. The 7Be mass activity concentration in maize leaf samples was significantly greater than in maize stem, maize root and maize grain samples. The 7Be activity in maize leaves accounted for 78% of the total maize 7Be activity. The 7Be mass activity concentration in maize varied from 25.4 to 122.4 Bq kg−1 and areal activity concentration held by maize from 1.2 to 111.5 Bq m−2 during the growth period. The percentage of 7Be areal activity concentration held by maize relative to the 7Be areal activity concentration measured in reference soils ranged from 0.4 to 24.2% with a mean of 13.7%.

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Acknowledgment

The work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No.2007CB407201), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40901127, 41071194) and the Special-Funds of Scientific Research Programs of State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau (No. 10502-Z12-6).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Shaanxi, Yangling, China

    Fengbao Zhang & Mingyi Yang

  2. Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Water Resources, 712100, Shaanxi, Yangling, China

    Fengbao Zhang, Mingyi Yang & Bo Zhang

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  1. Fengbao Zhang
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  2. Mingyi Yang
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Correspondence to Mingyi Yang.

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Zhang, F., Yang, M. & Zhang, B. Beryllium-7 activity concentration in maize during the growth period. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 292, 75–79 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1381-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-011-1381-7

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