Abstract
A study has been undertaken along the coast of Accra (Teshie to Nyanyano) in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area to investigate the emission of soil radon gas in the area using Lenin Resin (LR) 115 cellulose nitrate detectors. Twenty seven sampling points were considered for the investigation. A set of detectors were buried at a time and were replaced fortnightly for a period of 2 weeks. Three exposures were made at each location. Due to logistics constraints, the detectors were buried in phases over a period of 15 weeks. After the exposure period, the detectors were etched, air dried in the laboratory and the registered alpha tracks were counted using the Spark counter. The track density was calculated and the radon gas concentration was computed. The radon concentrations ranged from 1.40 kBqm -3 to 282.87 kBqm -3 for the period of monitoring. The average soil radon concentration measured during the period of the survey was 24.41 kBqm -3 . Local earthquakes of magnitude ranging from 1.1 to 2.8 on the Richter scale were recorded during the study. Continuous monitoring of the gas could confirm high emanation with the activity of the coastal boundary fault. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.71.2.7063
Highlights
Radon in soils along the coast of Accra (Teshie to Nyanyano) has been measured to determine the level of the concentration in the largely dominated fishing area
The radon concentrations registered during the period of monitoring ranged from 1.40 kBqm-3 to 282.87 kBqm-3
The average soil radon concentration measured during the period of the survey was 24.41
Summary
Radon in soils along the coast of Accra (Teshie to Nyanyano) has been measured to determine the level of the concentration in the largely dominated fishing area. The soil radon gas survey was conducted to establish the correlation, if any, between gas emanation and the activity of the coastal boundary fault, a major fault in the study area (Figure 1). Soil gas radon concentrations have been used extensively to map active faults, as faults and fractures in the underlying rocks provide paths of high permeability and, serve as conduits for radon gas migration (Teng, 1980; Burton et al, 2004). Radon (222 Rn) is one of the naturally occurring isotopes that can be used in geological, seismic and tectonic studies. It has a half-life of 3.8235 days and, can be used appreciably for such a study. Alpha sensitive detectors buried in the soil at various depths are able to record the alpha particles produced by 222Rn decay and its plate-out daughters (Burton et al, 2004; Amponsah et al, 2008)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Environmental Research, Engineering and Management
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
