Radiological Screening of Bottom Sediments of The Tisza River: High Mountain Part

Abstract

The results of the radiological study of the sediments from the sources of the Tisza River in the highlands of the Carpathians are presented. For the first time, data were obtained on the structure of sediments' natural activity and its transformation during the altitude lowering of the riverbed lowering for 400 m. The sediment samples were taken from 12 sampling points and investigated under low-background gamma spectrometry experiments. The content of natural, in particular, daughter isotopes of the U / Th series, 40K, and artificial (137Cs) radionuclides in the sludge was controlled. They can serve as markers of the studied areas' spatial, geochemical, and anthropogenic characteristics. Standards of the content of the radionuclides - marks along the Tisza riverbed and in the vicinity of its tributary rivers have been established. Significant changes in the range of U/Th components under the lowering of the Tisza riverbed are shown, indicating geochemical anomalies in these areas. The cluster and factor analysis methods were used to study the stability of statistical indicators based on the radionuclide content in the highlands of the Tisza River and the nature of latent factors that determine their statistical equivalency and grouping conditions. The radiological research data in the sediments' samples allows for estimating the abundance of chemical elements U, Th, and K as important geochemical and geothermal characteristics of its catchment area. The importance and prospects of radiological monitoring from the origin and in all the Carpathian basins of the Tisza River are discussed, given its importance for the formation of water resources in Eastern Europe.