Home – Home – Jornals – Geography and Natural Resources 2019 number 2

Modern levels of global ¹³⁷ Cs deposition in permafrost soils of tundra and taiga zones of Yakutia are studied. It is shown that the reserves of ¹³⁷ Cs in the soils of Yakutia, depending on the landscape and climatic features of the territory, vary in a significant range. The greatest number of ¹³⁷ Cs is contained in soils of mountain areas (Aldan highlands and Chr. Ulahan-Clean), located in the zone with the maximum average annual rainfall, and the lowest - in the soils of the tundra zone. It is recorded that the average density of soil pollution ¹³⁷ Cs on the surveyed flat parts of the territory of Yakutia is now generally decreased by three to four times compared with the data of aerogamma-spectral surveys conducted 1968-1974 on the territory of the Ya kut ASSR due to its radioactive decay, burial, removal from surface waters and accumulation of vegetation. It is shown that in the surveyed areas of the plains and mountains of Yakutia, the global deposition of ¹³⁷ Cs in soils is on average 2-4 times less than in the soils of the Urals, Western and southern Siberia and other territories of Russia. The correlation between the density of soil pollution ¹³⁷ Cs and the amount of atmospheric precipitation was revealed. The main regularities of migration and redis tribution of ¹³⁷ Cs in different types of soils conjugated by runoff of areas of permafrost landscapes are established. In the harsh climatic conditions of Yakutia in permafrost soils vertical and lateral migration ¹³⁷ Cs weaker than in the soils of the European part of Russia contaminated with radioactive cesium after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.