Radioecological observations on plants of the Lower BuIIer Gorge region of New Zealand and their significance for biogeochemical prospecting.
Abstract
The trees Nothofagus fusca and Wienmannia racemosa and the shrubs Coprosma australis and Quintinia acutifolia were found to have an α activity and U content which correlated well with the amounts in the soil. The use of pathfinders for U was investigated and whilst Cu-U and Zn-U relationships in the soil were significant, the only significant relationship in the vegetation wax that between the Zn content of the dried wood of Q. acutifolia and the U content of the soil. Much of the plant α activity was not due to U but to daughter products such as Ra, Pb, Th and Po.