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Spatial and vertical distribution of 137Cs activity concentrations in lake sediments of Turawa Lake (Poland)

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Abstract

The main objective of this research was to study the spatial and vertical distribution of 137Cs activity concentrations in the bottom sediments of Turawa Lake 32 years after the Chernobyl fallout to investigate possible factors responsible for the post-fallout migration and accumulation of 137Cs in the selected reservoir. The results demonstrated a strong relationship between the increasing 137Cs and 40K activity concentrations and the decreasing grain size of sediments. Significant amounts of 137Cs were detected in the bottom sediments deposited in the deeper parts of the reservoir (especially near the dam). Therefore, this research showed that Turawa Lake can be an important trap for sediments polluted with 137Cs. Moreover, disturbed vertical distribution of 137Cs activity concentrations in the sediment columns collected from the littoral zone of this lake was observed, which is probably related to the bottom erosion intensified by wind-wave action, bioturbations, and water-level fluctuations. In the profundal zone, the vertical distribution of 137Cs activity concentrations was undisturbed, which indicates stable sedimentation conditions in this part of Turawa Lake.

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Data availability

The datasets used in the presented study are available from the corresponding author on a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Elwira Sienkiewicz, Wojciech Sienkiewicz, and Anna Mulczyk from the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences for their help during field and laboratory work. We would like also to thank Šárka Matoušková from the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences for her help during field work. We also thank the reviewers for their useful comments and helpful suggestions.

Funding

This work was supported by the internal project ‘Turawa’ by the Institute of Geological Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

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  1. Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda St. 51/55, 00818, Warsaw, Poland

    Ilona Sekudewicz & Michał Gąsiorowski

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  1. Ilona Sekudewicz
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IS contributed to the study conception, sample collection, material preparation, analyses, writing the manuscript, and revision. MG was responsible for the conceptualization, sample collection, supervising the analyses, and manuscript editing.

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Correspondence to Ilona Sekudewicz.

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Sekudewicz, I., Gąsiorowski, M. Spatial and vertical distribution of 137Cs activity concentrations in lake sediments of Turawa Lake (Poland). Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 80882–80896 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-21417-1

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