General Category > World News
Chernobyl Study: 30 Years After Blast, Trees Are Barely Decomposed
Oceander:
Chernobyl Study: 30 Years After Blast, Trees Are Barely Decomposed
Thursday, 27 Mar 2014 12:06 PM
By Alexandra Ward
Researchers studying the aftereffects of the Chernobyl disaster have found that the dead trees, plants, and leaves sitting on the contaminated nuclear site are not decaying at the rate they should be.
The nuclear power plant in Ukraine has sat virtually untouched since a reactor exploded there in 1986. Now, a duo of scientists is studying the biology of the contaminated site in an effort to see the effects of the radiation.
Tim Mousseau, a professor of biology at the University of South Carolina, visited the site with Anders Møller of the Université Paris-Sud and discovered that the trees in the nearby Red Forest died, but their trunks remained largely intact.
"We were stepping over all these dead trees on the ground that had been killed by the initial blast," Mousseau said in a statement obtained by LiveScience.com. "Years later, these tree trunks were in pretty good shape. If a tree had fallen in my backyard, it would be sawdust in 10 years or so."
To test out the theory that it was the contaminated Chernobyl site contributing to the slow decay, the team of researchers collected hundreds of samples of leaf litter from a noncontaminated area. They packaged the leaves in bags made out of pantyhose in order to let air in and situated them throughout the Chernobyl site.
According to LiveScience.com, those samples of leaves showed 40 percent less decomposition than samples placed in non-contaminated sites.
It makes sense, Mousseau said, because radiation has been shown to drastically decrease the amount of bacteria, microorganisms, and fungi in a sample. Radiation treatments are even sometimes harmful to cancer patients because it kills off the good bacteria in a person's intestines, LiveScience.com noted.
EC:
Let me see.
Radiation kills living organisms (except cockroaches)
Living organisms eat dead ones, causing decay.
Without living organisms, the only decay is weathering.
Weathering is really slow. The pyramids are still there, and they get sandblasted every so often.
Grant money please?
SPQR:
--- Quote from: EC on March 29, 2014, 07:23:47 am ---Let me see.
Radiation kills living organisms (except cockroaches)
Living organisms eat dead ones, causing decay.
Without living organisms, the only decay is weathering.
Weathering is really slow. The pyramids are still there, and they get sandblasted every so often.
Grant money please?
--- End quote ---
Its a legitimate study especially trees being exposed for long term radiation. They also want to know whether a forest fire will release radiation into the atmosphere. At Bikini Atoll and at Christmas Island there are trees that are constantly monitored for radiation by the DOE
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/26/chernobyl-radioactive-fires-global-danger
rangerrebew:
The trees have a nice "glow" though. :silly:
mountaineer:
--- Quote from: rangerrebew on March 29, 2014, 01:23:43 pm ---The trees have a nice "glow" though. :silly:
--- End quote ---
No Christmas lights needed.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version