XA04N2887 INIS-XA-N--259 L.A. Pertsov TRANSLATED FROM RUSSIAN Published for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and the National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. by the Israel Program for Scientific Translations L. A. PERTSOV THE NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY OF THE BIOSPHERE (Prirodnaya Radioaktivnost' iosfery) Atomizdat NMoskva 1964 Translated from Russian Israel Program for Scientific Translations Jerusalem 1967 18 02 AEC-tr- 6714 Published Pursuant to an Agreement with THE U. S. ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION and THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION, WASHINGTON, D. C. Copyright (D 1967 Israel Program for scientific Translations Ltd. IPST Cat. No. 1802 Translated and Edited by IPST Staff Printed in Jerusalem by S. Monison Available from the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield, Va. 22151 VI/ Table of Contents Introduction .1..................... Bibliography ...................................... 5 Chapter 1. GENESIS OF THE NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY OF THE BIOSPHERE ......................... 6 § Some historical problems...................... 6 § 2. Formation of natural radioactive isotopes of the earth ..... 7 §3. Radioactive isotope creation by cosmic radiation. ....... 11 §4. Distribution of radioactive isotopes in the earth ........ 12 § 5. The spread of radioactive isotopes over the earth's surface. ................................. 16 § 6. The cycle of natural radioactive isotopes in the biosphere. ................................ 18 Bibliography ................ .................. 22 Chapter 2. PHYSICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF NATURAL RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES. ........... 24 § 1. The contribution of individual radioactive isotopes to the total radioactivity of the biosphere. ............... 24 § 2. Properties of radioactive isotopes not belonging to radio- active families . ............ I............ 27 § 3. Properties of radioactive isotopes of the radioactive families. ................................ 38 § 4. Properties of radioactive isotopes of rare-earth elements . 46 Bibliography ................ .................. 48 Chapter 3. RADIOACTIVITY OF ROCKS .......... I...... 52 § 1. Connection between the radioactivity of the biosphere and of rocks. ... I......................... 52 § 2. Distribution of radioactive isotopes in igneous rocks ...... 55 § 3. Beta-radiation of igneous rocks. .................. 58 § 4. Alpha-radiation of igneous rocks. ................. 61 § 5. Radioactivity of sedimentary rocks. ................ 65 1802/1 § 6l. Contribution of products of spontaneous fission of heavy nuclei to the total radioactivity of rocks. ........... 69 § 7. Content of transuranic elements in rocks. ............ 72 Bibliography ................ ................. 73 C hap t er 4. RADIOACTIVITY OF SOILS. ................. 76 § 1. Composition and structure of soils. ............... 76 § 2. Main features of the major soil types. ............. 78 § 3. Sources of soil radioactivity. ................... 79 § 4. Alpha-radiation of soils. ...................... 80 § 5. Radon emanation from radioactive soil. ............ 83 § 6. Beta-radiation of soils. ....................... 85 § 7. Natural radioactivity of soils due to Sr 0 and Cs 7 .. .. 88 § 8. Agriculture and soil radioactivity. ................ 90 Bibliography ................ ................. 92 C hap t er 5. RADIOACTIVITY OF THE SEA. ............... 95 § 1 . Sea water, its salt composition and amount. ......... 95 § 2. Radioactivity of ocean water. ................... 97 § 3 . Radioactivity of individual seas. ................. 100 § 4. Causes of fluctuations in sea water radioactivity ....... 104 § 5. Radioactivity of the water of estuarine areas. ......... 108 § 6. Radioactivity of sea bottoms. ................... 109 Bibliography ................ ................. 113 C hap t er 6. RADIOACTIVITY OF NLAND WATER. .......... 117 § 1. Radioactivity of chemically pure water. ............ 117 § 2. The formation of the radioactivity of fresh water ....... 118 § 3. Sources of the radioactivity of atmospheric water ....... 119 § 4. Natural radioactivity of river water. .............. 121 § 5. Radioactivity of some USSR rivers. ............... 126 § 6. Radioactivity of lake water. ................... 132 § 7. Radioactivity of underground water. .............. 134 § 8. Radioactivity of water of mineral sources. ........... 13 6 Bibliography ................ ................. 137 C hap t er 7. RADIOACTIVITY OF THE ATMOSPHERE. ......... 140 § 1 . The atmosphere and the sources of its radioactivity 140 § 2. Cosmogenic isotopes and radioactivity of the atmosphere .141 § 3 . Emanations and the radioactivity of the air. ......... 144 § 4. Variations in the radioactivity of atmospheric air ...... 147 § 5. Radioactivity of aerosols. ..................... 153 § 6. Radioactivity of precipitation. .................. 162 Bibliography ............... ................. 164 1802/I Chapter 8. RADIOACTIVITY OF PLANTS.......... 170 §1. Content of alpha-radiators. .................... 170 §2. Content of beta-radiators. ..................... 175 § 3. Variations in the radioactivity of plants. ........... 179 Bibliography ................ ................. 183 Chapter 9. RADIOACTIVITY OF ANIMALS. .............. 18 6 § 1. Content of alpha-radiators in tissues of hydrobionts ..... 187 § 2. Content of beta-radiators in tissues of hydrobionits 189 § 3. Radioactivity of land animals. .................. 192 Bibliography ............... ................. 199 Chapter 10. RADIOACTIVITY OF THE HUMAN BODY. ....... 201 § 1. source of the radioactivity of the human body ........ 202 § 2. Content of alpha-radiators in human tissues. ......... 207 § 31. Content of beta-radiators in human tissues. .......... 210 § 4. Gamma-radiation of the human body. ............. 214 Bibliography ............... ................. 215 Chapter 11. COSMIC RAYS. ......................... 218 § 1. Primary cosmic rays. ........................ 218 § 2. Secondary cosmic rays. ...................... 220 § 3. The origin of cosmic radiation. ................. 221 § 4. Corpuscular corona' of the earth. .............. 223 § 5. Variations in the cosmic background on the earth ...... 226 Bibliography ............... ................. 230 C ha p ter 12. IONIZING RADIATIONS IN THE BIOSPHERE. ..... 232 § . The radiation ficld of the biosphere. .............. 232 § 2. The cosmic radiation dose. .................... 236 § 3. Gamma-radiation of the earth's surface. ........... 239 § 4. Neutron radiation of the earth. .................. 242 § 5. Radiation of the surface air layer. ................ 246 § 6. Radiation field in buildings. .................... 247 § 7. Mean dose absorbed by tissues due to the isotope K . 252 § 8. Mean C14-radiation dose absorbed by tissues. ......... 253 § 9. Mlean absorbed tritium-radiation dose. ............. 253 §10. Mean absorbed dose due to radioactive rubidium ....... 253 § 11. Mean dose from air emanations absorbed by the lungs . 254 § 12. Mean Ra 226 radiation dose absorbed in soft tissues ...... 255 §13. M'ean Ra 226-dose absorbed by osteocytes. ............ 256 §14. External beta-irradiation. ..................... 256 §15. Total dose absorbed from natural sources. ........... 257 Bibliography ................ ................. 258 List of Abbreviations. ................................ 261 1802/III INTRODUCTION Of the approximately 1200 isotopes presently known more than 900 are radioactive. The nuclei of these isotopes are unstable and decay spon- taneously emitting ionizing gamma-, alpha- or beta-radiation. The over- whelming majority of known radioactive isotopes have been obtained artificially; only a few are natural. Numerous investigations have shown that many of the natural radio- active isotopes can be grouped into three radioactive families. Each such family is characterized by the existence of one long-lived isotope - the family parent, one gaseous isotope of radon, intermediate radioactive decay products and final stable isotopes of atomic weights 206, 207 and 208. No such generic relationship has been established among the remaining natural radioactive isotopes. It has been shown that radioactive isotopes are very widespread in nature and are found in all the strata of the earth: atmosphere, hydro- sphere, lithosphere and biosphere. However, natural radioactive substances in concentrated form are encountered quite rarely. They are generally dispersed very widely in the various strata of the earth. As a consequence weak radioactivity has become an inseparable prop'erty of atmospheric and soil air, of sea, lake and river water, of soil, of magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, and of the tissues of plants and animals. In addition, natural radioactive isotopes have also been detected in the meteorites which periodically fall on our planet from cosmic space. The latter is of great importance, since along with other astrophysical data, it indicates that radioactivity is characteristic not only of our planet but also of other formations of the universe. The first information on radioactive transmutations of matter was obtained at the end of the past century. In 1896 the French scientist A. Becquerel observed that uranium salts spontaneously emit rays which penetrate through dense objects. In 1898 M. Sklodowska- Curie in France and H. Schmidt in Germany independently observed that, like uranium, thorium and its salts also possess radioactivity. In the same year the Curies discovered two new radioactive elements, which they called radium and