Vertical profiles of Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 in soils in Fukushima Prefecture related to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident

Soil core samples were taken on April 13, 2011 at three sites in Fukushima prefecture: Hiwada in Koriyama-city (Site 1; N 37°28′32′′, E 140°23′17′′; two cores were obtained in Site 1), Yabuki in Nishi-Shirakawa-county (Site 2; N 37°11′59′′, E 140°20′37′′), and Iizaka in Fukushimacity (Site 3; N 37°48′50′′, E 140°26′34′′). The distances of the three sites from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are 55 km (Site 1) and 65 km (Sites 2 and 3). We selected the three sites to investigate different types of soils. The soil types of the samples for Sites 1–3 were gray lowland soil, andosol, and brown forest soil, respectively. The soil at Site 1 was taken from a field, whereas the soil at Sites 2 and 3 was used to grow fruit trees. A stainless steel pipe with a diameter of 4.7 cm and length of 30 cm was inserted into the soil at each site to recover the soil core sample, which was divided into 8 fractions Vertical profiles of Iodine-131 and Cesium-137 in soils in Fukushima Prefecture related to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident