Detonations below the surface follow a different phenomenology.

When

the depth of burial is quite small, the cloud characteristics are very
similar to those of a surface burst.

For greater depths of burial, the

time sequence of different steps leading to local fallout becomes more

and more dominant as a factor determining the nature and properties of
the fallout, with complete containment (no fallout) occurring at a depth
of burial which depends on the device yield and, to some extent, on the
properties of the overburden.
In order to provide a general understanding of the properties of local
fallout, it is advantageous to discuss subsurface explosions and surface
and near-surface explosions separately.
A brief discussion of the
phenomenology of the former is found also in Teller et al. (1968).
During the early stages of a contained nuclear explosion, a cavity is

formed containing vaporized device debris and host rock materials.

The

cavity wall is lined with molten rock.
While the vapor cools and condenses into droplets, the molten material begins to collect at the
bottom by flowing down the wall or falling from the upper portions.
After a period of time, from a few seconds to a few hours, the cavity
collapses and leaves a colum of brecciated (loose) material behind the
chimney.
Most of the fused material remains in the lower portion of
what once was the cavity, but some fragments of fused rock are interdispersed with the rubble.
The radioactivity is mostly concentrated in the
once-molten rock.
However, radionuclides that are present in the vapor
State when the cavity collapses may be found throughout the rubble as
well as their daughter products.
Thus, the detailed distribution of
radionuclides between fused rock and rubble is dependent on the timehistory of the cavity and its contents.
When structural weaknesses are present in the overburden, such as an
improperly stemmed emplacement hole, failure may occur with venting as a

result.

Since, inter alia, the cavity contents must travel a long

distance to reach the surface, the vented material is highly enriched in
volatile species, rare gases being a major component.
Fused cavity
material would essentially be absent in the fallout (and “throwout"), so

that any radioactivity present (mostly 89’99Sr and !37cs, and some

shorter-lived species) is in the form of surface coatings on some of the
particulate matter.
Thus, the fallout is highly depleted in refractory
species such as 9°Zr and rare earths, as well as in transuranic elements.

Complete containment (except for venting as described above) occurs when
the shock wave from the detonation has degraded to a weak seismic wave

upon reaching the surface.
When the depth of burial is such that the
initial shock is still strong when it reaches the surface, the shock
wave splits into a surface wave and a reflected dilatational or rarefaction wave while the surface moves upward.
As the tension wave moves
deeper, the tension increases until the tensile strength of the rock is
exceeded.
The result is spallation of the rock into the air.
When the
rarefaction wave subsequently reaches the expanding cavity, a second
upward acceleration phase provides additional momentum to the overburden.

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