The role of suspended particles in the discharge of 210Pb and 7Be within the Kuji River watershed, Japan

Abstract Fluvial discharge of atmospherically-derived 210 Pb and 7 Be was studied in the Kuji River watershed in Japan. The daily load of 210 Pb and 7 Be, associated with suspended particles, greatly increased during high-flow conditions. However, the activity concentrations of 210 Pb and 7 Be in the suspended particles were found to be rather independent of the flow rate. Due to this feature, the daily load of the activities associated with the suspended particles was mainly controlled by that of the suspended particles. Compared with the other reported values, the estimated mean residence time of atmospherically-derived 210 Pb in the present study was rather short (about 800 years), possibly reflecting the high availability of the suspended particles eroded from the top soil in the watershed. The annual load of 210 Pb and 7 Be was predominantly of particulate form (approx 90%). These results suggest that the fluvial discharge of atmospherically-derived, highly adsorptive (k d ≳ 10 4 mg l −1 ) radionuclides in a river watershed is primarily due to the discharge of suspended particles, which strongly depends on the flow rate of river water and also on the location of the watershed.