Radioactive isotopes, of either natural or artificial origin, can be used as tracers of numerous environmental processes according to their half-life, source and specific biogeochemical characteristics. From July 2013 to July 2014 samples of precipitation (20), snow cover (8), ice cover (12), water column (24) and soil (40) were collected in the Sant Nicolau valley within the ISÓTOPOS project. The aim is to estimate the transfer of the natural isotopes 7Be, 210Pb and 210Po between the atmosphere - snow/ice cover - lakes. This shall allow evaluating the efficiency with which the snow/ice cover intercepts the atmospheric fluxes of species of interest in the system, such as stable isotopes, and studying their fate when melting occurs. The analysis of 7Be and 210Po/210Pb are being conducted at the Laboratori de Radioactivitat Ambiental (Universitat Autònoma Barcelona). 

Sampling radioisotopes in Lake Llebreta water column

 

Sampling radioisotopes in the snowcover