Soil types and their relations with radon concentration levels in Middle Governorate of Gaza Strip, Palestine

Khalid Fathi Ubeid,Khaled Ahmed Ramadan

doi:10.17951/pjss.2020.53.1.55

Khalid Fathi Ubeid, Khaled Ahmed Ramadan

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.17951/pjss.2020.53.1.55

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Abstract

<p>Determination of natural radioactivity has been carried out in surface and core agricultural soil samples collected from various sites in the Middle Governorate – Gaza Strip, Palestine. Mechanical and chemical analysis has been done to determine soil characteristics. Radon activity concentration measurements were carried out using solid state nuclear tracks detectors, Cr-39. The mechanical analysis results show that they belong to two classes, sandy loam and loamy sand. The sandy loam soil was observed in the eastern side of the study area, whereas the loamy sand was observed in western and middle parts. The radon concentration levels were higher in core samples and were proportionate to the soil depth. Also they were higher in sandy loam than loamy sand soil samples. The radon concentration levels had a positive correlation with fine grains (clay- to silt-size) of soil sample which translocated from upper to lower horizons of soil during its development. Additionally, there was a positive correlation with pH and water content, whereas a negative correlation was observed with organic matter and potassium contents. The positive correlation referred to a large specific surface of fine grains which were located in lower horizons of soil and were able to adsorb more water and consequently led to high radon concentration levels.</p>

Highlights

In addition to being the main source of continuous radiation exposure to human, soil acts as a medium of migration for transfer of radionuclides to the biological systems and it is the basic indicator of radiological contamination in the environment
The aims of this work were the determination of radon concentration levels in surface and core agricultural soil samples collected from various soil types in different sites in the Middle Governorate of Gaza Strip, Palestine
The results show that the high values of pH and water content (WC) in soil samples were observed in the core samples

Summary

Introduction

In addition to being the main source of continuous radiation exposure to human, soil acts as a medium of migration for transfer of radionuclides to the biological systems and it is the basic indicator of radiological contamination in the environment. Khatir et al 1998, Tzortzis et al 2003, Matiullah et al 2004, Ramli et al 2005, Veiga et al 2006) and concerned various regions of the world Most of these studies were concentrated on natural sources as the natural radiation is the largest contributor to the external dose provided to the world’s population (UNSCEAR 2000). These dose rates vary from one place to another depending upon the concentration of natural radionuclides like 238U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K present in soil. Data on natural radionuclides are still very scarce in Jordan and the previous studies are limited to specific regions, radionuclides and/or geological formation (e.g. El-Ghossain and Abu Saleh 2007, El-Ghossain and Abu Shammala 2012, Rasas et al 2004, Ubeid and Ramadan 2017)

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