NATURAL RADIOACTIVITY VARIATION WITH SOME SOIL PROPERTIES

Abstract

In an extension of our previous studies of environmental radiological monitoring, the radionuclides activity concentrations (226Ra,232Th, and40K) were estimated using gamma-ray spectrometry for three soil types (silt clay loam, clay loam, and sandy clay loam) from three diverse regions adjacent to the Nile River in Egypt. These measures were found to be 14 ± 1.34 to 29 ± 2.81, 5.7 ± 0.54 to 23.3 ± 2.34, and 113 ± 11 to 427 ± 41 Bq kg-1, respectively. We aimed to investigate the correlation between radionuclide concentrations in soils with different textural properties and chemical parameters, such as hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and organic matter (OM). The recorded values for soil pH ranged from 6.9 to 8.2, while the organic matter content ranged from 0.4 to 2.6%. A correlation was observed between40K activity concentration and OM.