Dry and wet deposition of 7Be, 210Pb and 137Cs in Monaco air during 1998-2010: seasonal variations of deposition fluxes

Abstract

Temporal variations of (7)Be, (210)Pb and (137)Cs activity concentrations in precipitation in Monaco from 1998 to 2010 showed that maxima of (7)Be and (210)Pb deposition fluxes coincide with the peaks of precipitation amounts observed in different months of a year, and most of (7)Be and (210)Pb was washout from the atmosphere by precipitation. The seasonal variations were not uniform from year to year, and the amount of precipitation controlled the deposition fluxes of (7)Be and (210)Pb, which was not the case for (137)Cs. The fractional deposition fluxes of (7)Be and (210)Pb in different seasons were in the order fall > spring > winter > summer, while the fractional amount of precipitation followed the order fall > winter > spring > summer. The fractional deposition fluxes of (137)Cs were found in the order spring > fall > summer > winter. The precipitation-normalized deposition fluxes of (7)Be, (210)Pb and (137)Cs were generally higher during summer. The highest (7)Be/(210)Pb activity ratio was observed in 2010, and the smallest one in 2001, following the influence of the modulation of cosmic rays on the production rates of (7)Be in the atmosphere by solar activity. Activity ratios of (7)Be/(210)Pb observed in winter and fall were generally higher than during summer and spring.