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Tropical Radioecology

  • 1st Edition, Volume 18 - October 18, 2012
  • Latest edition
  • Editors: M. Baxter, J.R. Twining
  • Language: English

Tropical Radioecology is a guide to the wide range of scientific practices and principles of this multidisciplinary field. It brings together past and present studies in the tropi… Read more

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Description

Tropical Radioecology is a guide to the wide range of scientific practices and principles of this multidisciplinary field. It brings together past and present studies in the tropical and sub-tropical areas of the planet, highlighting the unique aspects of tropical systems. Until recently, radioecological models for tropical environments have depended upon data derived from temperate environments, despite the differences of these regions in terms of biota and abiotic conditions. Since radioactivity can be used to trace environmental processes in humans and other biota, this book offers examples of studies in which radiotracers have been used to assess biokinetics in tropical biota.

Key features

  • Features chapters, co-authored by world experts, that explain the origins, inputs, distribution, behaviour, and consequences of radioactivity in tropical and subtropical systems.
  • Provides comprehensive lists of relevant data and identifies current knowledge gaps to allow for targeted radioecological research in the future.
  • Integrates radioecological information into the most recent radiological consequences modelling and best-practice probabilistic ecological risk analysis methodology, given the need to understand the implications of enhanced socio-economic development in the world’s tropical regions.

Readership

Nuclear laboratories; environment and health departments of countries with tropical regions or responsibilities; health physicists; international NGOs; nuclear reactor engineering firms; mining industry, particularly U-mines, mineral sands mining, mines with NORMS or generating TENORMS; environmental pathway modelers; biokineticists; general and tropical ecologists

Table of contents

  • Foreword
  • Contributors
  • Chapter 1. The Scientific Basis
    • 1.1 Introduction
    • 1.2 Radioactivity
    • 1.3 Radiation science
    • 1.4 Environmental radioactivity
    • 1.5 Concluding comments
    • References
  • Chapter 2. Radionuclide Behaviour and Transport in the Tropical Atmospheric Environment
    • 2.1 Introduction
    • 2.2 The large-scale structure and transport processes in the tropics
    • 2.3 Cosmogenic and anthropogenic radionuclides
    • 2.4 Terrigenic radionuclides
    • 2.5 Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • References
  • Chapter 3. Mobility of Radionuclides in Tropical Soils and Groundwater
    • 3.1 Introduction and scope
    • 3.2 General principles
    • 3.3 Properties of tropical soils
    • 3.4 Case studies of radionuclide mobility in tropical environments
    • 3.5 Factors of significance in the migration of radionuclides in the tropical environment
    • 3.6 Overall conclusion
    • References
  • Chapter 4. Tropical Radiochemical Oceanography
    • 4.1 Introduction
    • 4.2 Biogeochemical behaviour of radionuclides in marine systems
    • 4.3 Sources and sinks of radionuclides to the tropical oceans
    • 4.4 Radionuclides in tropical marine environments
    • 4.5 Marine radioactivity databases
    • 4.6 Case studies
    • 4.7 Summary and conclusions
    • References
  • Chapter 5. Terrestrial Radioecology in Tropical Systems
    • 5.1 Introduction
    • 5.2 Tropical soil systems
    • 5.3 Agricultural systems
    • 5.4 Radioecological concepts and modelling
    • 5.5 Compilation and evaluation of TFs for tropical and subtropical systems
    • 5.6 Tropical crops
    • 5.7 Tropical animals
    • 5.8 Summary and conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • References
    • Further reading
  • Chapter 6. Radioecology of Tropical Freshwater Ecosystems: Mechanisms and Kinetics of Bioaccumulation and the Importance of Water Chemistry
    • 6.1 Introduction
    • 6.2 Organism effects at an ecosystem scale
    • 6.3 Uptake of radionuclides at the cell surface
    • 6.4 Influence of water chemistry on radionuclide bioavailability
    • 6.5 Modelling, kinetics, and mechanisms of radionuclide bioaccumulation
    • 6.6 Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • References
  • Chapter 7. Radiological Consequences Modelling
    • 7.1 Introduction
    • 7.2 Radionuclide transfer following atmospheric dispersion
    • 7.3 A radiological consequence model suitable for tropical systems
    • 7.4 Aquatic pathway dose assessment
    • 7.5 Environmental dose assessment and radioecological risk assessment
    • 7.6 Conclusions
    • References
  • Index

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Volume: 18
  • Published: December 31, 2012
  • Language: English

About the editors

MB

M. Baxter

Affiliations and expertise
Isle of Seil, Argyll, UK

JT

J.R. Twining

Affiliations and expertise
Austral Radioecology, Oyster Bay, Australia

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