Radioactive Heat Production Characterization of Ar-Rassafeh Badyieh Area (Area-2), Syria Using Aerial Gamma Ray Spectrometric and Fractal Modeling Techniques

Abstract

Aerial gamma-ray spectrometric technique is used to evaluate the radioactive heat production (HP) of Ar-Rassafeh Badyieh Area (Area-2), Syria. The nine already established lithological scored units of Area-2 have been separately characterized for the HP parameter. The Concentration-number (C-N) model and the log-log plots associated with fractal technique are proposed and applied as a new approach to map the measured equivalent uranium (eU), the equivalent thorium (eTh), and potassium (K%) and the computed HP of Area-2. The HP of Area-2 varies between a minimum of 0.06 and a maximum of 4.28 μw/m with an average of 0.548 μw/m and a standard deviation of 0.27μw/m. The highest observed HP values are related to the phosphatic environments represented by two lithological scored units A and B.
Key words: radioactive heat production, hosphatic environments, aerial gamma-ray spectrometry, Area-2, Ar-Rassafeh Badyieh Area and Syria.