Distribution of radiocesium and natural gamma emitters in pine needles in coniferious forest sites of Izmir

Using a high-resolution gamma-spectrometer system, the activity concentrations of 7Be, 137Cs, 40K and 226Ra were determined in the pine needles. Activity concentrations of the concerned radionuclides in the needle samples were as follows: 7Be, 24.6±2.40 to 210±7.21 Bq kg−1, 40K, 23.5±12.4 to 287±15.6 Bq kg−1, 226Ra, 0.44±0.12 to 12.3±2.18 Bq kg−1, and 137Cs, 0.61±0.30 to 2.29±0.38 Bq kg−1. It is found that the frequency distributions obtained for 7Be and 137Cs can be fitted to a normal distribution, and for 40K and 226Ra can be fitted to a log-normal distribution.