University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative

Exchange
Masters Theses

Graduate School

8-1962

Distribution of Fallout Cesium-137 in Litter,

Humus, and Surface Soil Layers Under Natural
Vegetation in the Great Smoky Mountains
Jerry Carlyle Ritchie
University of Tennessee - Knoxville

Recommended Citation
Ritchie, Jerry Carlyle, "Distribution of Fallout Cesium-137 in Litter, Humus, and Surface Soil Layers Under Natural Vegetation in the
Great Smoky Mountains. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 1962.
http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/1427

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To the Graduate Council:

I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Jerry Carlyle Ritchie entitled "Distribution of Fallout
Cesium-137 in Litter, Humus, and Surface Soil Layers Under Natural Vegetation in the Great Smoky
Mountains." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend
that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a
major in Botany.
R. E. Shanks, Major Professor
We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance:
J. S. Olsen, G. E. Hunt, L. F. Seatz
Accepted for the Council:
Carolyn R. Hodges
Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
(Original signatures are on file with official student records.)

J une 15, 1962

To the Graduate Coun c i l :

I am submitting herew ith a thesis wr itten by Jerry Carlyle Ritchie
entit led "D i str i bution of F al l out Ce sium-1 37 in L it te r , Humus , and Sur
f ac e S o i l Layer s under N atur al Ve ge tation i n the Great Smoky Mounta ins . "
I rec omme nd t hat it be accep ted for twe lve quarter hours cred it i n par
t ial ful f il lme n t of the requirements for the de gree of Master of S c ience ,
w it h a m ajor in Botany .

We h ave re ad this the sis and

re commend its acce ptan ce :

Accepted f or the C o unc il :

DI STRIBUTION O F FALLOUT CES I UM- 1 37 IN LITTER , H UMU S , AND SURFACE SOIL

LAYERS UNDER NATURAL VEGETATION IN THE
GREAT SMO KY MOUNTAINS

A The si s
P re sented to
the Grad uate Coun c i l of
The U n ive r sity of Tenne ssee

In Partial Ful f i l lment

of the Re quire ments f or the Degree of
Maste r of Sc ience

by
Je rry Carlyle R i tchie
August 1 962

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The aut hor w i she s to thank t he members of his committee who
he l pe d prepare t he manuscr ipt .

Spe cial t hank s go t o Dr . R . E . Shanks

and Dr . J. S . O l son whose sugge st ions were both t ime l y and he lpf ul .
Thank s are t o be g iven t o the He alth P hysics Whole B ody Counting
Laborat ory at O ak R i d ge , Tenne ssee for the use of t he ir gamma spe ct r ometer and t o P . E . B r own f or his assist ance with t he use of the
spe ct r omete r .

Thanks a l so go t o the Great S moky Mountains National

Park Service for st imul at ion t oward re search in the P ark.

The work

was d one through a Unive rsity cont ract ua l proje ct supported by the
United State s Atomic Ene r gy C ommi ssion .

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION
I.

PAGE

INTRO DUCTION .

II .

LITERATURE SUR VEY

III .

THE P ROBLEM AREA .

I V.

MET HODS

11

Fie ld Method s

11

Fore st Fl oor and S o i l C ol lect ion

Laborat ory Method s
C ount ing

11

. .

12

12

Computat ions of Net Count s P er M inute (CPM ) and Disinte grat i ons Per M inute (DPM )
S o i l Analys is
V.
VI

13

14

39
40

B IBLIOGRAPHY.
AP PE NDI X.

15

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .

S UMMARY

45

iii

LI ST OF TABLES
P AGE

TABLE
I.
II .
I II.

P r incipal Gamma-Emitter s of Wor ld -Wide Fal l out Importance .

Summary of Stand De s criptions

10

P ar ticle Size Dis tribution in the 1.5- to 3-Inch Soil

Layers

From the D ifferent Site s

IV .

16

Thickne s s of the Organic Layers (l,, F, and H)

at

the

Different Sites in I n che s .

V.

VI .

Laye r s in Tons Pe r Acre at E ach Site

Bulk Dens itie s of the Various

Centime te r at E ach Site

VI I .

L:yecs

and
18

in Gram s

Cubic

Per

20

p H of the H L aye r and the Three Arbitr ary Laye rs of 1ine r al

Soil

VI I I .

17

We ight of the Unincorp or ated Or ganic Matte r in th e L , F,

H

22

Canpar is on of Two Me th od s Used to Obtain Counts Per 20

Minute s Due to Ce s ium- 1 3 7 in the Ce s ium-1 3 7 Ph otope ak.

IX.

Factorial De s ign

31

D is tribu tion of Ce s ium-1 37 in the D if fe rent L aye rs in Pe r

Cent of the Total Ce s ium- 1 37

XI I .

Analys is of Variance of T otal Ce s ium-1 37 with E l e vation,

Cover Type , and E xp os ure :

XI .

24

Distribution of Cesium-137 in the Various Layers Expre s sed

in M il l icur ie s Per Squ are Mil e , Se ptember 1, 1 96 1 .

X.

35

D is tribution of P otas s ium- 40 in the Various L aye r s in MicroMicrocurie s Pe r Gram

..

iv

. .

..

..

""

37

LIST OF FIGURES
P AGE

FIGURE
1.

Graphical Met hod of Str ipp ing a Sampl e Spe ct rum int o its
C omponent P arts

2.

St and

23

"

26

27

Inch Soil

..

the

Laye r, T aken f r om. the

29

Typ i cal Spe ct r um of t he 3-4.5 I nch Soil L aye r, T ake n f r om the

HND St and

7.

T yp ical Spe ct rum of t he 1 .5 -3

HND St and

6.

Typical Spe ctrum of t he 0 -1 . 5 I nch Soil Laye r, Taken f r om

HND

5.

Typ i cal Spe ct rum of t he Fe r me nt ation on Laye r, T aken f rcm

t he HND St and

T ypical Spe ct rum of t he Lit te r (L) Layer, Taken f ro m t he HND

St and

3.

30

Re gre s s i on of T ot al Ce s ium- 1 37 on Elevat i on

33

I.

INTRODUCTION

S ince the exp l osion of the first nucle ar we apon in July of 1 9 45

and with subse quent test s , e s peci ally of hydrogen device s which c on
t r i bute most of t he wor ld-wide fallout , and wit h t he deve lopme nt of
nuc l e ar power pl ant s, the world has be come more and more intere sted
in rad ioact ive fal l out and t he problems re lated t o it .

During the

detonat ion of a nuc l e ar dev i ce some 170 radioact ive i s ot ope s are pro
duced .

O f the se 1 7 0 isotopes there are se ven pr inc ipal gamma-ray

emitt ing f i s sion products which have sufticie ntly l ong ha l f - l ive s t o be
import ant in world- wide fallout (Table I, adapted from Mortensen 1 9 6 1 ) .
The purpose of th is study was t o meas ure t he amount of ce s ium- 1 3 7 in
the or gan ic l ayer s and t op four and one -half inche s of mineral soil in
re pre sentat ive evergreen and de ciduous fore st st ands of the Gre at Smoky
Mount a in s of North Carol i na and Te nne s see wit h emphasis on it s d i stri
but i on and movement downward t hrough t he s oil.

TABLE I
PRINCIPAL GAMMA-EMITTERS OF WORLD-WIDE FALLOUT IMPORTANCE

Half-lifea

Isotope
Cs- 1 37

B a-1 37

27 ye ar s -- 2 . 6 minute s

Ru- 1 0 6 - - Rh- 1 0 6

1 . 0 years -

Ce - 1 44 -- P r-144

290 days -- 17 minute s

Zr-95 -- Nb-95

6 5 days -- 3 5 days

3 0 sec ond s

- Rh- 1 0 3

39.8 days

57 minute s

Ba- 140 -- La- 1 4 0

1 2 . 8 days

40 m in ute s

Ru-103

a.o days

aHal f -l ife is the time it take s t he radioactivity to decrease

to one -hal f of its initial value.

II.

LIT ERATURE SURVEY

At A l amogord o, New Mex i c o on July 1 6, 1 9 45 t he United St at e s of

Ame r ic a te sted t he first at om ic b omb ( He ar ings bef ore t he Spe c ial Sub
committee on Rad i at ion 1 9 57) .

Since t hi s fi r s t expl os ion rad i oactive

fallout has bee n ident ified and me asured e xt e ns ive ly.

Atomic Ene r gy Commi s s ion (USAEC)

T he United St at e s

init i ated it s f al l out s t ud ie s in 1 947

t hr ou gh a group at t he Uni ve r s ity of C al i forn i a at Los Ange l e s , f or med

t o s t udy e ffe c t s of rad i at ion on l iving organ i s ms at t he detonat ion
site at A lamogord o .
det onat ions

to

Thi s pr ogram de veloped f urthe r , wit h more nuc le ar

st udy patterns of lo cal f all out .

Research Laborat ory be gan me as ure me nt

195 0 .

of

The United S t ate s Naval

air-b orne f is s ion product s in

I n 1 951 the USAEC be gan t o analyze r ain wat e r from t he n ort h

e aste rn United St ate s for f i s s ion-produced rad i oact ivity .

From t his

d e ve l oped a nat ion-wide r ai nfal l c ol l e ct ion syst e m u nd e r t he USAEC

He alt h and S afety Lab or at ory in New York.

The U nited St at e s We at he r

Bure au i n 1 9 5 2 be gan a gummed f ilter and air s ample c ol le ct i on syste m

at 1 21 fixed moni t or i ng s t at ions i n t he United S t ate s .

T he n in 1 95 4

the USAEC through var ious organ i z at ions began t o s tudy wor ld-wid e f al l
out .

In t he s e s t u die s s o i l , air , wate r , milk , and f ood stuffs we re col

le cte d and analyzed f o r r ad ioact i vity wit h part i cu l ar e mphas is on

s t r ontium-90.

In 1 9 5 5 t he United S t at e s A gr i culture Dep art me nt ent e red

t he above pr ogram and has s ince d one e xte n s ive work on stront ium- 9 0 in
s oil (United St at e s At omic Ene rgy Commis s ion 1 9 6 0) .
3

4
Many of the early pub l ished rep ort s ( E i s e nbud and H arley 1 9 5 3 ,
1 955, and L ibby 1956 , 19 5 8 ) we re o n stud ie s o f r ad ioact ive fall out
patte rns .

They we re based on stud ie s of stront ium-9 0 and used t his

infor mation t o pre d ict future le ve l s o f rad i oact i vity.

Late in t he f al l

of

1955 Miller and Harine l l i ( 19 5 6 ) , work ing

in Argonne Nat iona l Laborat ory at L emont, Illinois , f ound ce s ium- 1 37

in humans .

T hi s was the fir st re port e d csium- 137 in man.

I n t he

spr ing of 195 6 Rund o ( 19 5 8 ) found the fi r s t ce s ium- 137 in Br it i s h s ub

je c ts .

Us ing the ab ove i nf ormat ion the U nited St at e s in 195 6 be gan a

program at Los Al amos S c ie nt if i c Labor atory to me asure ces ium- 137 in

man ( Un ited S t at e s Atomic Ene r gy Comm i s sion 196 0).
I n Apr i l 1 9 5 7 Argonne N at i onal l,aborat ory be gan a program t o
me asure t he amount of f i s s ion gamm a- r ay emit t e r s i n t he s oil at Lemont ,
Illinois ( Gustaf s on , Mar ine l l i , and Brar 19 57 ) .

They found no me as ur

able amount of ce s ium- 137 but c al cu l ated the amount of ce s ium- 1 37 t o

be 0. 02 micro-microcur ies per gr am.

The program cont i nued and f or

Oc tober 1957 t he amount of ces ium-1 37 was f ound t o h ave incre ased t o
37 mill e cu r ie s (me.) pe r s qu are mi le (Gu s t afs on, Mar i ne l l i , and Brar
1 95 8 a) .

T he y al s o f ound that the t ot al amount of gamma-ray e mitters

was increas ing.

128

me.

By M arch 195 9 the amount of ce s ium-1 3 7 had r isen t o

pe r s quare mile at Lemont (Gu s t af son 1959b) .

At t he same t ime

Low and Ed vars on ( 1 9 5 9 ) work ing in Swede n f ou nd 39.4 me. o f ce s ium-137

per s qu are k il ometer ( e qu i vale nt to 102 me. per s quare m i l e ) .

I n June

of 1 960 Gus t a f s on, Br ar , and Kerr ingan ( 1 9 6 0 ) c o nc lude d t hat the amount
of ce s ium-137 and othe r f is s ion- produced gamm a- r ay e mitte r s had reac hed

5
a max imum and was now d e c l ining at a rate c l ose l y re lated t o the ir hal f
live s .

The highe s t amount re ported in 1 9 6 0 was 1 9 8

me.

per s quare mile ,

although 201 me . per s quare mile had been re p orted in O c t obe r 1959
( Gust af s on , Mar ine l l i and B rar 1 959 ) .
Other worke r s s uch as We l ford and C ol l ins ( 1 9 6 0 ) have reported
the a mount o f ind i vidual gamma-ray emit ters in rainwate r .

Lundbl om

( 1 96 2) , Gus t a f s on, Kerr ingan, and B rar (1961), and othe r s have re ported
on the amount of ces ium- 1 37 in t he air at ground l e ve l .

L junggren

( 1 96 0), work ing in N orway, and O l s on (1 9 6 1 ) , work ing in Tenne s see , have
re ported on t he ga mma-ray em itte rs in living plant mat e r ial ( e s pe c ia l l y
t re e leave s ) .

III.

THE PROBLEM AREA

The study area was the Great Smoky Mount ain s Nat ional Park
(GSMNP).

Located in the Blue Ridge P r ovince and part of t he Unaka

Chain (King and Stupka 1950),

o f over a mile.

t he Gre at Smoky Hount ains have a re l ief

Shanks ( 1 954} re ported t empe r at ure and pre c ip it at i on

data collected for the f ive ye ar pe riod 19'6 to 1950.

mean annual temperature varied from 56.6 F.

He f ound t he

at 1460 f e e t t o 45.8 F .

at 6300 feet and the mean annual pre c i p i t at i on r anged f r om 57.8 inche s
a t 1460 feet to 90.9 inches at 6300 fee t .

The d at a s uggest a hum id

clhnate at the lower elevations and a pe rhum id cl imat e at the higher

elevations with the boundary between th8 humid and perhumid c l imat e s
falling a short distance above t he 1400 f o ot stat i on (Shanks 195 4 ) .
With such varying physiographic and c l hnat i c cond it ions , t he are a
resents good cond itions for studying d i st r ibut ion patterns of r ad io
active fallout materia as related to environmenta l pat te rns .
Collections were made at ten s ite s ,

one at 6600 f e e t , f our at

5200 fe et , four at 3400 feet, and one at 1400 feet .

The approximate

locations and site d escriptions wh i ch f ol l ow are summar i zed in T able

11.

Citation of species follows t he nomen c l ature of Fe rnald (1950)

and Little (1953).

Sampling wa s d one betwe e n August 29

1961 and

September 1 3, 1961.

1.

Clingmans Dome Evergreen (66E) .

L oc ated on a s outhe as t

facing slope on the north side of t he t r a i l 0.2 mi le s f r o m F orney

Ridge Parking Area toward Clingmans Dome , GSMNP ,

at an e l e vat ion of

7
approx imately 6600 feet.
and Abie s frase r i .
at bre ast he ight .

The c l osed canopy was made up of P ice a rubens

The t rees we re most ly be l ow ten inche s in d iame ter

The ground cover consisted most ly of the f e athe r- moss

Hyl ocomium spl e ndens .

Beech Gap N orth- fac ing Evergreen ( HNE ) .

2.

L oc ated on a north-

fac ing slope on t he sout h side of t he Appal achian Trail 0. 6 mile s f r om

Ne wfound Gap t oward Cl inans D ome , GP , at an e le vat ion of appr oximat e ly 5200 feet .
Abie s fraser i .

The cl osed canopy c onsisted of P ic e a rubens and

The under st ory was made up of sc attered Viburnum alni-

The ground cover was made up of dense mat s of the f e ather-moss

fol ium .

Hyl oc om ium spe ndens.

3.

B e e c h Gap N ort h- fac ing De ciduous ( HND ) .

fac in g slope

on

L oc at e d on a n orth-

t he nor t h side of t he Appa l achian Trail 0.8 mil e s f r om

Ne wfound Gap t oward Cl inans D ome , GSMNP , at an e le vat ion of app roximately 5200 feet .

T he mode rat e l y we l l c l osed c anopy was mad e up of

Betula a l l e ghan iensis and Fagus grand i fol i .

The gr ound c ove r c onsisted

of m ixed fe rns and broad- leaved herbs.

4.

Bee c h Gap S outh- fac ing Evergeen (RSE) .

Locat ed on a south-

fac ing sl ope on t he 9CUt h side of t he App al achian Trail 0 . 8 mil e s f r om

Ne wfound Gap t oward C l ingmans D ome , GSMNP , at an e le vat ion o f appr oximate ly 5200 fee t .
Abie s frase r i.
fol ium.

The c l osed canopy was made up of P ice a rubens and

T he und e rst ory consisted of sc at te red Viburnum alni-

The ground cove r was made up of t he feather-moss Hyl ocomium

splendens.

8
5.

Bee ch Gap S out h-fac ing Dec i duous (HSD ) .

Located on a south

fac ing s lope on t he s out h s ide of t he Appalachian Trail 0.8 miles from
Newfound Gap t oward Clingmans Dome , GS MNP , at an elevation of approxi
mate ly 5200 fee t .

T he mode r at e ly well c losed canopy consisted mainly

of F agu s grandifol ia wit h a few Betula al le gh anien s is .

The ground cover

was made up of ferns and broad-leaved herbs.

6.

C himneys N ort h-fac ing E ver gr e e r' (LNE).

Located on a north

fac in g s lope on t he nort h s ide of t he trail 0.2 m i le s from the Chimneys

P arking Are a t oward the C himneys Camping Ground , GS MNP , at an elevation
of appr oximat e ly 340 0 fee t .

The c lose d canopy was made up of Tsuga

c anadens i s wit h a few Betula alle ghan iens .

of dense s t ands of Rhododendron max imum.

T he understory consisted

The ground cover was sparse,

consi st ing of fe rns and mosse s .

7.

C himney s N ort h-fac ing Dec iduous ( LND ) .

Located on a north

facing s lope on t he s out h s ide of t he t r a i l 0 . 5 mile s from the C himney s

P ark ing Are a t oward t he C himneys Camping Gr ound, GS MNP , at a n elevation
of appr ox imat e ly 3400 fee t .

The moderately well closed canopy consisted

of T i l i a heterophylla, sac c harum, Ae s culu s octandra, and Helesia

c arolina .

T he dense ground c over was made u p of ferns and broad-leaved

herbs.
B.

C himneys S out h-fac ing Evergreen (LSE) .

Located o n a s outh

fac ing s lope on t he s out h side of highway US 441 at t he west end of the
Chimneys P ark ing Are a, GSMNP , at an e levat i on of
fee t .

a p pr oxima t e l y 3400

T he mode rate ly we ll c lo se d c anopy c ons is te d of Tsuga canadensis

9
The under st ory was made up of

wit h s ome Betula a l l e ghan iens i s .

R hod odend r on max i mum .
9.

The ground cove r was very spar se .

Chimneys S out h-fac ing De c iduous ( LSD ) .

Located o n a s outh

fac ing s lope on the nort h s ide of highway US 441 100 yard s we st of t he
Chimneys Park ing Are a , GS MNP , at an e l e vat ion of approx imat e ly 3400
fee t .

T he c l osed canopy cons i sted of T i l ia heterophy l l a , Acer

saccharum, Ae sculus octandra , and Betula al le ghanie ns is .

The ground

c over was made up of dense stand s of broad- leaved herbs and fe rns .
10.
on

Met ca l f Bottoms E ve rgreen ( 1 4E ) .

Located on a le ve l are a

t he we s t s id e of highway US 4 1 1 at Met ca l f B ott oms P icnic Are a,

GSMNP, at an e le vat ion of appr oximate l y 14 00 fee t .

wel l c l osed c anopy c on s i sted of

wit h a few L ir i odendron tul ipfera .

The mode r ate l y

virg iniana and P inus e ch inat a

The ground cove r was made up of

broad -leaved he rb s , gras se s , and ferns .

10

TABLE II
S UMMARY OF STAN D DE SCRIPTIONS

Ve get at ion

S ite

Ele vat ion

As pe ct

66E

6 6 00

Southe ast

Spruce -F ir

HNE

5200

Nort h

Spruce-F ir

HND

5200

North

B ir ch-Bee ch

HSE

5200

Sout h

Spruce-F ir

HSD

5200

S outh

Bee ch-B ir ch

LNE

3 400

North

Heml ock

LND

3400

North

C ove Hardwood

LSE

340 0

S out h

Heml ock

LSD

3 40 0

S out h

Cove Hardwood

1 4E

1 400

Le ve l

P ine

IV.

METHODS

F ie ld Me thods
Fore st f l oor and s o il c o l l e ct i on .

At e ach of the ten s ite s

f ive s ample s of the f ore st f l oor and mineral s o il were c o l l e cted .

Repre sentat i ve c ol l e ct i on s ite s we re se le cted , c are be ing t aken t o
s t ay we l l w it hin the type d e s c r ibed and to st ay away from any f al len
t ree s .
Col l e ct i on of the forest f l oor s ampl e s we re made by p l acing a
one-f oot-s quare p ie ce of cardboard on the l it ter , t hen t ak in g a kn ife
and cutt ing around t he e d ge of t he cardboard , t hrough the f orest fl oor
and into the m ine r al s o i l .

The surround ing f ore st f l oor was then c are -

fully r aked away and the mater ial und er the cardb oard was col lected by
l ayers ( L itter or L l aye r , F l aye r , and H l aye r , Lut z and Chand le r
1946 ) .

The s ample s were pl aced in l abe led cont a iners and br ought t o

the l aboratory .
S ample s of the mineral s oil at al l s it e s we re colle cted by
p l ac ing a s ix- inch- s quare p ie ce of cardb oard in the mid d le of the
m ine r al s o il e xposed b y the c o l l e ct ion of t he f ore st f l oor s ample s .
One of two method s was used in t he col l e ct i on of the mineral s o il
s ample s .

I n t he f ir st method a t renching s hove l and a he avy knife

we re used t o expose the s oil prof ile beneat h the p ie ce of cardboard .

The n , us ing t he he avy kn ife , t hree one - and - one-half- inch l ayers of
the mine ral s o i l were c ol le cted .

By the s e c ond me thod , wh i ch was used

11

12

only when it was impos sible t o use the f irst method , the s o i l was care
fully dug out with a knife and a s mal l hand shove l .
in t he prof ile were inc l uded in the sample.

A l l root s and r ocks

The s oil sample s we re

pl aced in l abe led conta iners and brou ght to the lab orat ory .

Laboratory Method s
C ount ing .

After the materia l was br ought t o the l aborat ory it

was p l a ced in a 105 c. f or ce d -d raft oven f or f orty-e ight hour s .

It

was remove d and we ighed, then transferred t o quart - s ize pl as t ic bags

and t aken t o t he Health P hys ics Whole Body Counting Laboratory of the
Oak R id ge Nat ional Laborat ory at O ak Rid ge , Tenne s see , where gamma-ray
analysis was carr ied out .
The f ive s amp l e s of s imil ar mate r ial f r om e ach s ite were made
int o a compo s ite s a mple f or the purpose of gamma-ray anal y s is .
the f ive l itter s a mple s f rom

HND

Thus

we re c omb ined and c ounted as one

sample , the f ive F l aye r s were counted as one , e t c .

The compos ite

s ample s we re pl aced in pl astic c ont ainers d e s igned by t he He al th

Phy s ic s Laboratory for analy s is of bulk sampl e s .

The c ontaine r s we re

t he n pl aced ove r t hal l ium-act ivated s od ium iodide cry s t al s .

was 3 x 3 inche s a nd the other was 2 x 4 inche s .

One crystal

The 3 x 3 inch crystal

gave bette r r e s olut ion t han t he 2 x 4 inch crystal but was not as
e f f ic ie nt .

Pul se s of d if f e rent e nerg ie s from the 2 x 4 inch crystal

we re s orted int o channe l s 0 to 99 of a 200 channe l RIDL (Rad iat ion In

s t r ume nt De ve lopme nt Laborat ory) pul se he ight analyzer and t he pu l se s
f rom t he 3 x 3 inch crystal we re s orted into channe l s 100 t o 1 9 9 of the

13

s ame 200 channe l pul se he ight analyzer .

A background count was made

with e ach crystal and subtracted f r om t he gross count bef ore the d ata
we re pr inted out by the anal yzer .

Bet a rad iat ion cont r ibut i on t o the

value s re c orded was minimized by us ing a be ry l l ium ab sorber with a

mas s of 1 . 2 3 grams per s quare cent imeter .
Stand ard s w it h s im ilar c ount ing ge ometry f or t he L, F , and H
mater ial were made by p ipe tt ing s t andard s o l ut ions of i sot ope s into
seven c e l l ul ose s p onge s in p l as t i c bags ( O l s on 1 9 6 1 ) .
Standard s f or the mineral s o il were made by p ipett ing st and ard
s ol ut ions of is ot ope s int o 1 00 gram s ample s of m ineral s oil .

After

d ry ing e ach 1 0 0 gram sample was t horou gh ly mixed wit h enough soil t o
give a s t andard w ith count ing ge ome t ry s im ilar t o that of the so i l
s ample s .

Act ivity i n count s per minute d ue t o t he int rod uce d is ot ope

was determined by subt ract ing the count s of a b l ank sample of m i neral
s oil of the s ame type as that of the "sp ike d " s o il f rom the c ount s of
t he "sp ike d " s o i l .

A s o il s ample f r an f our and one-half inche s t o s ix

inc he s deep was s t r ipped of it s pot a s s ium-40 act ivity and used a s a
st and ard for t hor ium-uranium .
f or thor ium .

M onoz ite s and was al so used as a stand ard

P ot a s sium chl or ide was used a s the st andard for pot as sium-

40 .
Comput at ion s of c ount s f!E minute ( CPM ) and d i s inte grat i on s
per m inute ( DPM) .

E st imat e s of CPM d ue t o the ind ividual isot ope were

made by graphically str ipp ing t he s pectra of stand ard s from the s pe ctrum
of the s ample ( F i gure 1 in Re sult s and D i scus s ion ) .

Th is is d one to

14
cor re ct f or s catt e r rad iat ion in the phot ope ak of the i s ot ope meas ured
( Gu s t af s on, Mar ine l l i , and B rar 1 958 ) .
semi- l og graph pape r .

The s pe ctra had been pl ot ted on

After mak ing a numbe r of es t imate s as de s c r ibed

above , a s i mple mathemat ical f ormula was de r ived which could be u sed
t o make e s t imat e s of CPM in the s ample s be ing stud ied (Append ix ) .

c ompar i s on of t he two met hod s is pre sented in Table VIII and d is cus sed
in the Re su l t s and D i s cu s s i on.
After CPM f or an is ot ope were determine d , DPM for t he isot ope
we re dete rmined by c ompar i s on with CPM of a s t and ard of the same is o
t ope ( Append ix) .
S oil anal y s is .

The Sevie r County s o il survey ( Hubbard , et al .

1 9 5 6 ) , the Swain C ounty s oil survey ( P er k ins and Gettys 1 9 47) , and a
ge o l o g i c map of East Tenne s see ( Rodge r s 1 9 5 3 ) made po s s ib le gene ral
ident if i cat ion of prob ab l e s o il type and ge ol ogic mate r ial .

The se

c l as s if i cat ions were che cked by f ie ld ob servat ions at e ach s i te.

After the s ample s had been d r ie d and we i ghed as de s c r ibed
e arl ie r , bulk dens it ie s were c al c u l ated .

The pH was determined e le c

t r ome t r i cal ly f or the mineral s o i l and humu s ( H ) l aye r s , us ing a 1 t o

1 water and mater ial s u s pens ion and a Beckman Mode l G pH meter.
Me chan ic al analys is was made by t he hydr ometer method as d e
s c r ibed by B ouyoucos (1 9 3 6 ) and modif ied by Day (1 9 5 6 ) .

V.

RESULTS AND DI SCUS S I ON

S o i l and fore st f l oor .

The s o il type as given in the Swain

County s o i l survey ( Perkins and Gettys 1 947) f or s it e s one t hrough

t hree was Rough mountainous l and ( Ramsey s o il material ) .

S ites f our

t hr ou gh nine was al s o Rough mount a inous land ( R amsey s o il mater ial )

and s ite ten was Staser f ine s andy l oam ( Hubbard , al . 1 9 5 6) .

The

ge ol ogic mat e r ial f or s ites one through nine was Great Smoky conglomerate wh i le the parent mater ial at s ite ten was alluvium from
t he L it t le P ige on R iver , surrounded by and pr incipall y d e r i ved from
the L owe st part of t he O c oee ser ie s ( Rodge r s 1 9 5 3) .
Mechan ical analy s i s of the mineral s o il (Table III ) s howed that
t he s oi l was moder ately c oarse textured ( sandy l oam ) .

The soil was

l ow in c lay ( 2-8%) w ith more s and than s i lt in a ll case s exce pt at the

6 6E s t at ion.

The 54% s and , 40 % s ilt , and 6 % c l ay for the HS E s t and

i s in a gre e me nt with the 57. 2 % s and , 36 .9% s i lt , and 5 . 9 % c l ay re ported

by McCracken, Shank s , and C leb s ch ( 1 9 6 2 ) for the s ame s t and.
The thickne s s of the or gan ic laye rs d iffered wit h f orest type
(Table IV) .

As e xpe cted the e ve r green type s had a thicker organ i c

l ayer t han the de c iduou s type s .

The d at a are i n ge ne ral agree ment

with d at a t aken in t he s ame area by M cGinn i s ( 1 9 5 8 ) , alt hough the H

l ayer was much thi cker in s ite s LNE and LSE than report ed f or the
he mlock-hardwood s it e McGinni s stud ied .
Tab le V pre se nt s the we ight of the unin corporated organ i c
mat ter on the f ore st f l o or in t ons pe r acre .
15

The HSE s t and s howed

16

TABLE I I I
P ARTICLE S I ZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE 1 .5- TO 3-INCH SOIL LAYERS
FROM THE DIFFERENT SITES

S ite

S and

S ilt

C lay

Te xtural C l as s a

6 6E

38

55

S i l t l oam

HNE

63

51

S andy l oam

HND

62

35

S andy l oam

HSE

54

40

S andy l oam

HSD

58

36

Sandy l oam

LNE

50

42

Loam

LND

62

30

Sandy l oam

LSE

75

23

Loamy s and

LSD

80

15

Loamy s and

1 4E

68

29

Sand y l oam

aDe term ined f r om t he textural t r iangle , S oil Sur vey Manual

(S oil Survey S t a ff 1951) , page 20 9 .

17

TABLE IV
THICKNES S OF THE ORGANIC LAYERS

(L , F,

AND

H)

AT THE DIFFERENT SITES IN INCHES

S ite

Or ganic Layer s
F

66E

0.5

1.5

0.5

HNE

0.5

2.0

3.0

HND

0.5

1.0

HSE

0.5

2.0

HSD

0.5

0.75

LNE

0.5

1.5

LND

0.5

1.0

LSE

0.5

1.5

LSD

0.5

1.5

14E

0.5

2.0

3 .5

3.0

2.5

0.5

18

TABLE V
WEIGHT OF THE UNINCO RPO RATED O RGANIC MATTER IN THE L , F , AND H LAYERS
IN TON S PER ACRE AT EACH SITE

L ayer
S it e

1 4. 1 8 a

66E

3 . 12

HNE

2 . 34

1 3. 78

HND

1 . 41

4 . 94

HSE

2 . 01

1 1 . 31

HSD

1 . 59

2 . 86

LNE

1 . 84

6 . 46

LND

1 . 48

5 . 27

L SE

1 . 92

6 . 23

L SD

2 . 07

4 . 77

14E

1 . 24

a p and H l ayers.

Total
17.30

19 .52

3 5.61+
6. 3 5

26.30

39.62
4. 45

27. 29

3 5.59
6.7 5

29 . 1 4

37.29
6.84

6 .5 7

7.81

19
t he great est accumul at ion o f or gan ic mat t er , wit h t h e HNE , LNE , and
LSE s t and s in t he s ame r ange.

The accumul at ion und er the spruce-f ir

st and s (HNE and HSE ) f al l s between t he 8 7 , 400 pound s r ep orted by

McGinni s ( 19 5 8 ) and t he 66 , 941 p ound s repor t ed by Mor gan and Lunt
( 1 9 3 1 ) f or s im i l ar t ypes .

The accumu l at ion under the heml ock s t and s

( LNE and LSE ) was about twice the amount reported by McG inni s (1 9 58 )
f or a hem l ock-hardwood st and , but this i s b el ieved t o b e due t o a
d if f erence in t ype of st and s .

There was no H l ayer und er the st and

McGinn i s s ampl ed wh i l e there was a th i ck H l ayer und er the st and her e

reported .

The organ ic matter accumul at ion und er the evergreen st and s

with a prominent H l ayer was approximat ely s ix t imes as much as t hat

und er the deciduous stand s .

T he H l ayer was t he hor i z on of maximum

organ ic mat t er accumu lat ion in the HNE , HSE , LNE , and LSE st and s , t he
amount being approximat el y two t imes t he amount in t he L and F layers
in t he HNE and HSE s t and s and approximat el y f our t imes t he amount in
t he L and F l ayers in t he LNE and LSE s t and s .

The d eciduous st and s

s howed two t o t hree t imes as much accumul at ion in t he F l ayer as in

the L layer .
Bulk d ens ity (Tab l e VI ) s howed a general increas e with depth .
T he bulk d ens it ies of t he L and H l ayers d id not vary great ly between
st and s .

On t he ot her hand the bulk d ens it y of t he F l ayer was great er

under evergreen cover than it was under t he d eciduous cover in every

cas e .

The bulk d ens it ies, of t he m ineral s o il r anged from 0.2 8 grams

p er cub i c cent imet er t o 1 . 46 grams per cub ic cent imet er .

Th is is

s im i l ar t o the r ange of 0. 5 0 t o 1 . 4 1 grams per cub ic cent imeter

20

TABLE VI
B ULK DENSITIES OF THE VARIOUS LAYERS IN GRAMS
PER CUBIC CENTIMETER AT EACH SITE

Organ ic L ayers
S it e

0. 06

FINE

0. 04

0. 1 2

FIND

0. 03

0. 09

HSE

0. 04

0. 1 2

HSD

0. 03

o .o a

LNE

0. 03

0. 1 1

LND

0. 03

0. 09

LSE

0. 04

0. 1 1

L SD

0. 04

o.oa

14E

0. 02

aF and H l ayer s .

0. 1 7

0. 1 8

0. 1 6

0. 1 7

0. 1 2 a

3-4 . 5
Inc hes

0. 7 0

0. 8 9

1 . 02

0. 45

0. 49

0.64

0. 40

0. 56

0. 62

0.6 9

0. 7 8

0.8 3

0. 45

0. 56

0. 78

0. 64

0. 6 6

N .D .

0. 38

0. 56

o. 71

0. 3 6

0. 66

1 . 00

0. 28

0. 37

0. 4 0

1 . 01

1 . 41

1 . 49

O. l 3 a

66E

M ineral So il
1. 5- 3
Inches

0 1.5
I nches

21
r ep orted by M cGinn i s ( 1 95 8 ) in his stud y of f or est humus t ypes of East
Tennes s ee .
The pH o f t he H l ayer o f t he spruce- f ir s tand s (Tab l e VII) was
in t he same r ange r eport ed by McGinnis ( 19 5 8 ) .

The pH of t he mineral

s oil was s im i l ar t o t he 3. 4 reported by McGinni s ( 1 9 58 ) and al so by

McCracken , Shanks, and C l eb s ch ( 1 96 2 ) for spruce-f ir .

The pH und er

the d eciduous s t and s at the higher el evat ion ( 3. 4 t o 3 .7 ) was in agree

ment wit h t he 3 . 7 report ed b y McCracken, Shank s , and C l eb s ch (1962 )
for t he upper t hree inches o f s o i l in a high el evat ion d ec id uou s st and ,
but l ower t han t he 4 . 1 t o 4 . 3 rep orted by McGinn i s ( 1 9 58 ) and
by C a in ( 1 9 3 1 ) in t he same area .

4.5

f ound

The pH of t he hem l ock stand s wa s

s im i l ar to t he pH of the spruce-f ir s t and s wh i l e the hydro gen ion con

centrat i on of the l ow el evat ion d eciduous s t and s was an order of magn i
tud e l ower t han t he high el evat i on d eciduous stand s but i n t he s ame
range as t he p ine st and at 1 4 00 f eet.

T he l ow el evat ion d ec iduous

s t and s had a pH s im il ar to t he 4 . 7 report ed by McGinn is ( 1 9 58 ) f or a

s hnil ar stand .
C ompar i s on

met hod s u s ed

d et ermin ing CPM .

F i gure 1 shows

t he graphical met hod t o d et ermine CPM and t he mathemat ical method is

given in the Append ix .

Tab l e VIII provides a compar i s on of data ob

t ained by the two met hod s on a ser i es of samp l es .

The graphical met hod gave the higher c ount two t imes and t he
mat hemat ical met hod gave t he h i gher count t hree t imes .

The per c ent

d if f erence ranged f r om 6 . 9% f avor ing t he grap h ical met hod t o 7.4%

f avor ing t he mat hemat i cal method.

The p er cent d if f erence increa s ed

22

TABLE VII
pH OF THE H LAYER AND THE THREE ARBI TRARY LAYERS OF MINERAL SO I L

0-1 . 5
I nches

Layer s
1 . 5- 3
I nches

3 -4 . 5
I nches

3. 42

3 . 30

3.48

3. 05

3 . 45

3 . 45

3 . 40

3. 65

3 . 65

3. 20

3 . 80

3 . 70

3. 70

3 . 55

3 . 44

3 . 20

3. 52

N . D.

4 . 85

4 . 85

4. 9 0

3 . 01

3. 32

3 . 22

LSD

4 . 32

5 . 08

4.56

1 4E

4. 72

4. 62

4. 60

Site

66E
HNE

3. 1 1

HND
HSE

3 . 22

HSD
LNE

3 . 15

LND
LSE

3 . 25

----

23

4000

"
0-1.5 Soil Horizon
"
Crystal
33
Net Spectrum

K-40 removed
Th -u removed
1000
C/)
I.LI
...
::::>

- -

Cs-137 removed

Ru -106 removed

\ .

0
"'

.J\

0::
I.LI
Q..
C/)
...
z
::::>
0
0

100

-.!:'\\.
o

'

.._

... '-..:

../ .

'\, \
It

\ .
.

\ \

IOL------------------'-------0
0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80
1.00
1.2 0
I .40 1.60 1.80
ENERGY IN ME\J
FIGURE

GRAPHICAL METHOD OF STRIPPING A SAt-1PLE SPECTRUM INTO ITS C0!-1PONE1'-I'T PARTS

24

TABLE V I I I
CX>MPARISON OF TWO METHODS USED TO OBTAIN CO UNTS P ER 2 0 MINUTES
DUE TO CESI UM-1 3 7 IN THE CESI UM- 1 37 PHOTOPEAK

Samp l e

Grap hical
Met hod

Mat hemat ical

Method

D ifference 8
%

6 6 00 L

3140

3 1 94

+1 . 7

6 6 00 F

9570

9678

+1 . 1

6 6 00 0- 1 . 5

2130

1992

-6.9

6 6 00 1 . 5- 3

910

983

+7 . 4

6 6 00 3-4 . 5

395

374

-5.6

8P er c ent d ifference was obt ained by d ivid ing t he d if ference be

tween t he t w o figures by t he figure of t he mat hemat ical met h od and
mult ipl ying by 1 00.

25
in the m ineral s o il .

Thi s was due t o an increas e in t he amount of

t hor i um-uran i um pre s ent in t he s amp l e which great l y increas ed t he b ack

s cat t er in t he ces ium-1 3 7 phot ope ak .

F i gure s 2 , 3, 4, 5 , and 6 s how

t yp ic al spect r a of t he various l ayers wit h t he d om inance of t he c es ium1 3 7 and the l ow amount o f ot her fis s ion-produced gamma- emit t ers in the
mat er i al .

The l ow amount of ot her f i s s i on-produced gam ma-emit t er s was

due t o t he fact t hat there had b een no maj or nuc l ear t est f or approx i
mat el y t hree years ( fall of 1 958 ) be f ore t he col l ect i on of mat er i al was
mad e and therefore most of t he act ivity of the short -l ived gamma-em itt ers
was gone (Lundb l om 1 962 ) .

Rut henium-1 06 and c er ium-1 44 were the only

ot her f is s ion-produced gamma-ray emitters pres ent t hat were id ent if iab l e
in t he s amp l es .
Ces ium- 1 37 .

The r ange o f ces ium-1 37 in m il l icur ies p er s quare

mi l e (Tab l e I X) in t he stud y area was 246 . 2 t o 386 . 0.

This is appr ox i

mat el y 2 0 t o 1 00 p er cent hi gher t han t he 1 91 me. per s quare mile r e

p ort ed in the Lemont , I l l inoi s area in June 1 96 0 (Gust af s on , B rar , and
Kerr ingan 1 96 0) .
A c omp ar i s on of t he two e xposures and cover types at 340 0 f eet
w it h the two exposur es and cover types at 5200 f eet by means of a
fact oral anal ys i s of var i ance ( Tabl e X) ind icat ed no s i gn if i cant d if
f erence at t he 95% confid ence l evel wit h expo sure or cover type, but
t here was a s ign if i c ant d iff erence wit h el evat ion .

F igure 7 s hows

graphical l y t he d is t ribut ion of t ot al ces ium-137 wit h e l evat ion .

The

coef fi c i ent o f d et erminat i on ( R 2 ) of t he regres s ion of ces ium-1 37 on

el evat i on was 0 . 84 .

26

10

Aoo Horizon
2x4 C r ystal

1.&.1
1-::::>
z

Cs-137

a::
1.&.1
a..
en
1-z
::::>
0

(.)

--_.------------
0
0.20
0.40
0.60 0.80
1.20
L40
1.00
L60
1.80

ENERGY IN

MEV

FIGURE 2
TYPICAL SPECTRUM OF THE LITTER (L)

LAYER,

TAKEN FROt-1 THE HND ::?TAJ'JD

500

2 00

10 0

Ao

Horizon

2x 4 Crystal
lU
1:::l
z

a:
lU
n.

10

(/)
1z
:::l
0
0

-----------------------------0
0.20
0.40 060 0.80
1.80
1.00
1.20
1 .60
1.40
ENERGY IN MEV
FIGURE
TYPICAL JPECTRUH OF THE FEI<HENTATIOi'J

(F)

LAYER,

TAKEN FROM THE HND STAl'ID

28

200

100
0-15

Soil Hor izon

3x 3

Crystal

L&J
t

K-40

a::
L&J

10

0
(.)

----------

0.20

0.40

0.60

0.80

1.00

ENERGY
FIGURE
TYPICAL

SPECTRUM OF THE

0-1.5

1.20

1.40

----

IN MEV
4

INH SOIL LAYE:,

TAKEN

FRO}! TH1 liND STAtJD

29

20

10 0

1.5-3 Soil Horizon

3x 3

Crystal

:::>
z

a:::
w
a.
(/)

10

z
:::>
0
0

---------0
0.20
0.40
0.60 0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80

ENERGY IN
FIGURE
TYPICAL SPECTRUM UF THE

1. '5-3

MEV
5

INCH SOIL LAY":i<.,

TAKEN FROH THE HND

STNW

30

200

100

3-4.5"

Soil Horizon

3 x 3"

Crysta I

L&J

::l
z

a:
LIJ
a.

10

(/)

z
::l
0
(.)

-- ----

020

0.40

0.60

0.80

LOO

1.20

1.40

1.60

1.80

ENERGY IN M EV
FIGURE
TYPICAL SPECTH.TJ!1 UF THE

3-4.5

Il1CH SOIL U.YZ'.

l ,

TAKEN FROt-1 THE liND STAi'W

TABLE I X
DI STRIBUTION OF CESI UM-1 37 IN THE VARIOU S LAYERS EXPRESSED IN MILLICURIES P ER SQUARE MILE ,
SEPTEMBER 1 , 1 9 6 1

Ce s ium-1 37 Content by Laye rs

0-1 . 5
1 . 5-3
I n che s I nche s
H
F

Pre cipitat ion

Inche s P e r Year

Evergreen

9 0. 9

43 . 8

N ort h

Evergreen

90. 0

37 . 5

235 . 9

33 . 1

5 2 00

N orth

De ciduous

90. 0

19 . 0

186 . 4

--

5 2 00

South

Eve r green

90. 0

30. 3

213. 6

7 0. 9

5 2 00

South

De ciduous

90. 0

17 . 8

75 . 2

3400

N orth

Eve rgreen

76.3

10. 4

86.1

1 08 . 3

3400

North

De ciduous

76.3

6.1

9 1 .6

--

3400

South

Evergreen

76 . 3

9.8

75 . 5

94. 6

3 400

South

De c iduous

76 . 3

5.4

73.2

1 4 00

Le ve l

Evergreen

57 . 8

9.1

E levat ion
Feet

Exposure

6 600

Southea s t

5 2 00

Cove r

1 21 . 3 a

77 . l

3-4. 5
I nche s

T ot a l

1 35 . 9

66 . 1

19.0

386 . 0

1 9 .8

0. 3

4.5

331 . 1

1 04 . 2

17 . 7

6.9

3 34 . 2

25 . 5

N.D.

N .D .

340. 3

1 93 . 6

44 . 8

17. 4

348 . 8

33. 3

8.2

N .D .

246 . 2

1 55 . 1

32 . 7

10.5

296 . 0

66. 9

11 . 1

12.4

270. 3

84 .5

89 . 6

32 . 6

285 . 3

138. 5

26. 8

5.2

256 . 9

aF and H l aye r s .
I.N
......

32

TABLE X
ANALYSI S OF VARIANCE OF TOTAL CESI UM- 1 37 WITH E LEVATION ,
COVER TYPE , AND EXPO SURE : FACTORIAL DESIGN

S ourc e

d .f .

ss

El evat ion

82 30 . 4

Exposure

E rror I

MS

8230 . 4 .

60 8 . 76a

173 . 0

1 73 . 0

1 2 . 79

13.5

13.5

Cover

729 .6

729 . 6

3 . 61

Gov . x E lev.

353 . 8

353 . 8

1 . 75

Gov. x Exp .

1 08 . 0

1 08 . 0

0 . 54

Error I I

202 . 0

202 . 0

Total

9810 . 4

asignif i c ant at t he 95% conf idence l evel .

33

0
0
0
w
0
0
c._
&O.
w
w
ou..
0.
O
vz
0

s
Oz 0
00;;::
oro

>
w
o
o...J
ow
(\J
0

0
0
0

--*-----o--o----10
0
v

1.0

ro

at!W

0
ro

bs/ow

If)
N

L1-S:l

!'-

34
T he d if f e rence in t he d i st ribut ion of ce s ium- 1 37 with e le vat ion
seems most c l ose ly re l ated t o t he amount of pre c ip it at i on an area re
ce ived .

The rat i o f pr e c ip it at i on between 5200 fee t and 3400 feet

was 1 . 1 8 and the r at i o of ce s ium- 1 37 betwe e n t he se s ame e l e vat ions was

1 . 23.

T ak ing t he whole range f r om 6600 feet t o 1 400 fee t , t he pre c ipi

t at ion ratio was 1 . 5 7 and the ce s ium-1 37 rat io was 1 .5 1 .

Othe r worker s

have al s o f ound a re l at i onship between pre cip it at i on and t he d is t r ibu

t ion of rad i oactive f all out .

We l f ord and Coll ins ( 1 9 6 0 ) reported t hat

rainf al l i s c l e arly a cont r ol l ing f act or in t he fal l out de pos it ion

pat terns of stront ium-90 and ce s ium-1 37.

B ooker ( 1 95 9 ) , wor king in

Gre at Br itain , f ound that d r ie d milk f r om a re g i on of l ow r ainfall

contained a l owe r concent rat ion of ce s ium- 1 37 t han d r ie d milk from a
re g ion of h i ghe r r ainfal l .

L ibby ( 1 9 5 8 ) reported that "t here is e s sen

t ial l y no world-w id e f al l out in t he absence of r ainf all . "

Gu s taf s on

( 1 9 5 9 ) reported that t he re was a c l ose rel at ion s hip between t he r at io

of ce s ium- 1 37 to s t ront ium- 9 0 in rainwat e r .
T ab le XI i s a compar i s on of t he d is t ribut ion of ce s ium- 1 37 in
t he d if ferent l aye r s in the e ve r green s t and s at 5 2 00 feet and 3400
feet and the de c iduous s t and s in t he s ame l oc at i on s .

The d at a show

t hat 8 0 % of the ce s ium- 1 37 act ivity was in t he organ ic matter and uppe r
inch and one -hal f of mine ral s oil in t he de c iduous s t and s and 9 6 % was
in t he s ame l aye r s in the e ve r green s t and s .

The se f igure s appr ox imate

t he 8 9 % Gust af s on report e d in gras s , organ ic mat te r , and t he uppe r

inch and one-half of the s o i l .

He f ound 3% of t he t otal act ivity in

t he 3-4 . 5 inch s o i l l aye r wh ile here the r ange was from 2% in the

35

TABLE XI
DI STRIBUTION OF CESI UM- 1 3 7 IN THE DIFFERENT LAYERS IN P ER CENT
OF THE TOTAL CESIU H-1 3 7

Dec iduous
%

Cover
Evergreen
%

36

49

Mat er ial

Organ ic Layers

27

M ineral Soil
0 - 1 .5 inches

40

13

27

1 .5 - 3 inches

15

3 -4 . 5 inches

aAdapt ed f r om Gust af s on , Mar inel l i , and B rar ( 1 9 5 7) .

b
Per c ent of t he t otal act ivit y in gra s s and organic mat eria l .

36
evergreen to 5% in the deciduous.

Maximum retention in the upper part

of the soil is inferred from the work done by Cline (1960) on the move
ment of cesium-137 through a nine-inch soil column in the laboratory.
He found that 10% of the cesium-137 moved beyond the surface inch in
an acid soil when 300 column inches of well water, containing 261
micrograms of total solids per milliliter of water, was passed over
the column.

He found more movement when 0.1 N KCl was substituted for

the water.
The per cent of cesium-137 in the organic matter under the ever
green was approximately 2.1 times that of the deciduous stands.

This

is assumed to be due to the thicker organic layer (Table IV) present

under the evergreen stands, which served as an ion-exchange area on
which the cesium-137 could become adsorbed and t hereby reduce its
further movement through the profile.

Cline's (1960) work showed that

"cesium, after becoming adsorbed to a soil colloid, becomes difficult

to replace and was relatively unavailable to plants."

Other gamma-emitting fission products.

The only other identi

fiable fission-produced gamma-emitters present in the material were

ruthenium-106 and cerium-144, which together contributed approximately
28% of the total activity produced by fission-produced gamma-emitters.

Natural gamma-emitters.

Potassium-40,

comprised the natural gamma-emitters present.

thorium,

and uranium

Table XII gives the

activity of potassium-40 in micro-microcuries per gram of material.

The counting statistics are very poor on the estimates of potassium-40

37

TABLE XII
DISTRIBUTION OF POTASSIUM-40 IN THE VARIOUS LAYERS
IN MICRO-MICROCURIES PER GRAM

Organ ic Layers
Site

F
1. 15a

66E

0,69

HNE

0,60

0,30

HND

0. 61

1. 30

HSE

0. 52

0. 34

HSD

0. 63

1.93

LNE

0, 24

0. 16

LND

0. 31

0. 92

LSE

0. 28

0. 35

LSD

0,45

1,04

14E

0,16

F and H layers.

1. 26

0. 62

0,81

0.34

1.138

-"

Mineral Soil
0-1. 5

1. 5-3

Inches

Inches

3-4. 5
Inches

2. ll

2. 24

2. 19

1. 88

2.93

2.08

2.88

2.78

3. 04

1. 42

1. 37

1. 68

2. 64

2. 57

2. 42

1. 76

2. 65

N.D.

2. 74

2. 81

3. 11

1. 27

2. 3 2

2. 81

1. 35

2. 15

3. 33

1.58

1. 47

1. 33

38
in the L , F, and H l ayers , a f act which should be kept in mind when
stud ying t hese d at a .

P ot assium-4 0 increased with d epth in eight of

t he sit es , H SD and 1 4E showing a d ecrease wit h d epth .

Thor ium and

uranium showed no cons ist ent patt ern of change wit h d ept h .

The

act ivit y of thorium-uranium was s l ight l y more than t he act ivity of

p otassium-40 .

The natural rad ioact ivit y contribut ed 8 0 % or more of

the t ot a l a ct ivit y in the s oil l ayer s .

VI .

SRY

The or gan i c l ayers and t hree one- and- one- ha lf- inch s o il l ayers
wer e col l ected at f our d if f erent el evat i ons and under two contras t ing
c over t ypes in t he Great Smoky Mount a ins .

Gamma-ray analys is was

carr ied out on t hem wit h a 200 channel RIDL pul s e height ana lyzer .
Tot al ces ium- 1 37 var ied f rom 246 . 2 t o 386 . 0 m i l l icur ies per
s quar e m i l e .

There was no s ign if icant d if f erence in t he d is t r ibut ion

of ces ium- 1 37 w it h cover t ype or exposure but t her e was a s ignif icant
d if f erence at t he 9 5% conf i d ence l evel in t he d i str ibut ion of ces ium1 37 with el evat ion.

Thi s d if f erence wit h elevat ion s eemed most cl osely

relat ed to t he amount of precip it at ion r eceived .

The rat io of precipi

t at ion f r om 6 6 00 f eet to 1 400 f eet was 1 . 57 and t he rat io of ces ium-1 3 7

over the s ame range was 1 . 51 .
Most of t he ces ium-1 3 7 was in t he or gan ic layers and upper one
and one- half inches of t he mineral s o il .

E ight y per cent of t he t ot al

ces ium- 1 37 und er t he d eciduous stands and 9 6 % under t he ever green s t and s
were in thi s organ i c mat er ial and upper part of t he mineral s o il .
The other ident if i ab l e f is s ion-produced gamma- emit t er s pres ent
were rut hen ium- 1 06 and cerium- 1 44 which cont r ibut ed approximat ely 2 8 %
o f t he f i s s ion product a ct iv it y .

P ot a ss ium-4 0 , thor ium , and uran ium

mad e up the n at ura l l y occurr ing gamma- ray emitters present .

duced 8 0% or m ore of t he t otal act ivity in t he s o il layer s .

39

They pro

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APP ENDI X

I.

MATHEMATICAL FORMULA DERIVATION

To acc ount f or the back scatter e f fect of pot a s s ium-40 in t he

ces ium- 1 37 phot opeak , the ave rage rat io of CPM of a pot as s ium-40
st andard in t he ce s ium- 1 37 photopeak to the CPM in t he pot a s s ium- 40
phot opeak was determ ined .

Thi s i s the back s c atter c orre ct ion f or

pot a s s ium-40 ( Z 1 )
The thor ium-uran ium backs cat ter c orre ct ion ( Z 2 ) was determine d
b y gett ing the average r at io o f CPM of a t hor ium-uran ium st andard in
the ce s ium- 1 37 phot opeak to the CPM in the t hor ium-uran ium photopeak .
S ince the thor ium-uranium photopeak used had pot as s ium- 40 backs catt er
in it , a b ack s c atter correct ion ( Z 3 ) had t o be determined fo r p ot a s s ium4 0 in the thor ium-uran ium phot ope ak .

This was d one by gett ing the

average rat i o of CPM of a potas s ium-4 0 standard in the t hor ium-uran ium
photopeak t o t he CPM in t he potas s ium-40 photope ak .
Then c omb i n ing the ab ove :
CPM a

CPMb -

[CPM c Z 1

( CPMd - ( CPM c Z 3 ) ) Z

whe re
CPMa is CPM in the ce s ium- 1 3 7 phot opeak due t o ce s ium- 1 37
CPMb i s t he t otal CPM in t he ce s ium- 1 3 7 photopeak
CPMc i s the CPM in the pot as s ium- 40 photopeak
CPMd i s the CPM in the t h or ium-uran ium photopeak
Z 1 i s the backs catter c orre ct i on for potas s ium-4 0 in the ce s ium1 37 photopeak
46

47

z 2 i s the back s catter c orre ct ion f or thor ium-uran ium in the

ce s ium- 1 37 phot opeak
z 3 is the backscatter c orrect i on f or p otass ium-40 in the thor iumuran ium phot ope ak .

II.

DETERMINATION OF DPM
CPM 1 is t he c ount s per minute f or an
f or an i s ot ope in t he s ample
CPM 2 is the c ount s per minute f or a
standard of the i s ot ope in CMP 1

the r efore

DPM 1 i s the d is inte grat ion s pe r minute

f or i s ot ope in CPM 1
DPM 2 is the d i s inte grat ion s pe r minute
f or t he st andard i sot ope in CPM 2 .