RESULTS

Regrowth of the Land Plants

at Belle

Island

The gamma survey~-meter readings taken at Belle Island
during the period of investigation are given in Table 1 and

in Figure 3, which includes the theoretical gamma dose rate

according to Miller and Loeb (17) ana the slope for evi. 2,
The accumulated total dose from one minute after the detonation to the end of 200

days was calculated to be approxi-

mately 400 r.
Before the Nectar detonation,

the plants on Belle Island

were generally green and healthy-looking.
general area taken at this time
appearance of the vegetation.

ing of the leaves and necrosis,
Guettarda,

(Fig.

4a)

shows the

healthy

In some plants there was yellow-

especially in Scaevola and

and some reddening of the tops

Lepturus repens.

A photograph of the

of the grass,

The latter symptom is typical of some species

of plants growing in phosphorus-deficient soil,

a condition

often found on coral atolls and in areas where the top soil has

been disturbed or blown away.

The Mike detonation of 1952 had

removed most of the plants and top soil from Belle Island,

re-

sulting in the depletion of some of the elements essential for
plant growth.

In spite of these deficiencies regrowth of the

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