Articles | Volume 17, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1529-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-1529-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
14 Apr 2025
Data description article |
| 14 Apr 2025
| 14 Apr 2025
Distribution and sources of fallout 137Cs and 239+240Pu in equatorial and Southern Hemisphere reference soils
Environmental Geosciences, Department of Environmental Science, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (DOST-PNRI), Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, 1101 Quezon City, Philippines
Floriane Guillevic
Environmental Geosciences, Department of Environmental Science, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
Surya Gupta
Environmental Geosciences, Department of Environmental Science, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
Pierre-Alexis Chaboche
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan
Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, Fukushima University, Kanayagawa, Fukushima, Japan
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), Unité Mixte de Recherche 8212 (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ), Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Katrin Meusburger
Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL, 8903 Birmensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland
Pierre Sabatier
Laboratoire Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de Montagne (EDYTEM), CNRS, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, 73376 Le Bourget-du-Lac, France
Olivier Evrard
Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL), Unité Mixte de Recherche 8212 (CEA-CNRS-UVSQ), Université Paris-Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Christine Alewell
Environmental Geosciences, Department of Environmental Science, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
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Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 6461–6478, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6461-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-6461-2025, 2025
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6129–6147, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, 2025
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Anthony Foucher, Sergio Morera, Michael Sanchez, Jhon Orrillo, and Olivier Evrard
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 3191–3204, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3191-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-3191-2023, 2023
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Olivier Evrard, Thomas Chalaux-Clergue, Pierre-Alexis Chaboche, Yoshifumi Wakiyama, and Yves Thiry
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Katrin Meusburger, Paolo Porto, Judith Kobler Waldis, and Christine Alewell
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Pedro V. G. Batista, Peter Fiener, Simon Scheper, and Christine Alewell
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3753–3770, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3753-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3753-2022, 2022
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Laurie Boithias, Olivier Ribolzi, Emma Rochelle-Newall, Chanthanousone Thammahacksa, Paty Nakhle, Bounsamay Soulileuth, Anne Pando-Bahuon, Keooudone Latsachack, Norbert Silvera, Phabvilay Sounyafong, Khampaseuth Xayyathip, Rosalie Zimmermann, Sayaphet Rattanavong, Priscia Oliva, Thomas Pommier, Olivier Evrard, Sylvain Huon, Jean Causse, Thierry Henry-des-Tureaux, Oloth Sengtaheuanghoung, Nivong Sipaseuth, and Alain Pierret
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 2883–2894, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2883-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-2883-2022, 2022
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Fecal pathogens in surface waters may threaten human health, especially in developing countries. The Escherichia coli (E. coli) database is organized in three datasets and includes 1602 records from 31 sampling stations located within the Mekong River basin in Lao PDR. Data have been used to identify the drivers of E. coli dissemination across tropical catchments, including during floods. Data may be further used to interpret new variables or to map the health risk posed by fecal pathogens.
Lena Wohlgemuth, Pasi Rautio, Bernd Ahrends, Alexander Russ, Lars Vesterdal, Peter Waldner, Volkmar Timmermann, Nadine Eickenscheidt, Alfred Fürst, Martin Greve, Peter Roskams, Anne Thimonier, Manuel Nicolas, Anna Kowalska, Morten Ingerslev, Päivi Merilä, Sue Benham, Carmen Iacoban, Günter Hoch, Christine Alewell, and Martin Jiskra
Biogeosciences, 19, 1335–1353, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1335-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-1335-2022, 2022
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Gaseous mercury is present in the atmosphere all over the globe. During the growing season, plants take up mercury from the air in a similar way as CO2. We investigated which factors impact this vegetational mercury uptake by analyzing a large dataset of leaf mercury uptake rates of trees in Europe. As a result, we conclude that mercury uptake is foremost controlled by tree-intrinsic traits like physiological activity but also by climatic factors like dry conditions in the air and in soils.
Virginie Sellier, Oldrich Navratil, John Patrick Laceby, Cédric Legout, Anthony Foucher, Michel Allenbach, Irène Lefèvre, and Olivier Evrard
SOIL, 7, 743–766, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-743-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-743-2021, 2021
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Open-cast mining increases soil erosion and transfer of sediment in river systems. Providing a methodology to better understand the sediment dynamic of these catchments is essential to manage this pollution. In this study, different tracers such as elemental geochemistry or colour properties were tested to trace and quantify the mining source contributions to the sediment inputs in the Thio River catchment, one of the first areas exploited for nickel mining in New Caledonia (i.e. since 1880).
Lauren Zweifel, Maxim Samarin, Katrin Meusburger, and Christine Alewell
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 21, 3421–3437, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3421-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-21-3421-2021, 2021
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Mountainous grassland areas can be severely affected by soil erosion, such as by shallow landslides. With an automated mapping approach we are able to locate shallow-landslide sites on aerial images for 10 different study sites across Swiss mountain regions covering a total of 315 km2. Using a statistical model we identify important explanatory variables for shallow-landslide occurrence for the individual sites as well as across all regions, which highlight slope, aspect and terrain roughness.
Anthony Foucher, Pierre-Alexis Chaboche, Pierre Sabatier, and Olivier Evrard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4951–4966, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4951-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4951-2021, 2021
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Sediment archives provide a powerful and unique tool for reconstructing the trajectory and the resilience of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems facing major environmental changes. Establishing an age depth–model is the first prerequisite of any paleo-investigation. This study synthesizes the distribution of two radionuclides classically used to this aim, providing a worldwide reference to help the scientific community reach a consensus for dating recent sedimentary archives.
Florian Wilken, Peter Fiener, Michael Ketterer, Katrin Meusburger, Daniel Iragi Muhindo, Kristof van Oost, and Sebastian Doetterl
SOIL, 7, 399–414, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-399-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-399-2021, 2021
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This study demonstrates the usability of fallout radionuclides 239Pu and 240Pu as a tool to assess soil degradation processes in tropical Africa, which is particularly valuable in regions with limited infrastructure and challenging monitoring conditions for landscape-scale soil degradation monitoring. The study shows no indication of soil redistribution in forest sites but substantial soil redistribution in cropland (sedimentation >40 cm in 55 years) with high variability.
Pierre Véquaud, Sylvie Derenne, Alexandre Thibault, Christelle Anquetil, Giuliano Bonanomi, Sylvie Collin, Sergio Contreras, Andrew T. Nottingham, Pierre Sabatier, Norma Salinas, Wesley P. Scott, Josef P. Werne, and Arnaud Huguet
Biogeosciences, 18, 3937–3959, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3937-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-3937-2021, 2021
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A better understanding of past climate variations is essential to apprehend future climatic changes. The aim of this study is to investigate the applicability of specific organic compounds of bacterial origin, 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs), as temperature and pH proxies at the global level using an extended soil dataset. We show the major potential of 3-OH FAs as such proxies in terrestrial environments through the different models presented and their application for palaeoreconstruction.
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Short summary
Fallout radionuclides (FRNs) such as 137Cs and 239+240Pu are considered to be critical tools in various environmental research. Here, we compiled reference soil data on these FRNs from the literature to build a comprehensive database. Using this database, we determined the distribution and sources of 137Cs and 239+240Pu. We also demonstrated how the database can be used to identify the environmental factors that influence their distribution using a machine learning algorithm.
Fallout radionuclides (FRNs) such as 137Cs and 239+240Pu are considered to be critical tools in...
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