INITIAL EVALUATIONS OF NATURAL (226Ra, 232Th AND 40K) AND ARTIFICIAL (137Cs) RADIO ISOTOPE ACTIVITIES IN ARZULAR-YITIRMEZ-DÖLEK (GÜMÜSHANE) MINERALIZATION/ALTERATION FIELDS

Abstract

Within the scope of this study, the first evaluations of natural (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) and artificial (137Cs) radio isotope activities of the Arzular-Yitirmez-Dölek (Gümüşhane) mine/alteration site were carried out. Measurements were carried out with Poptop Ortec gamma rays detector on 22 soil samples collected from the field. When the natural 232Th, 226Ra and 40K activities of the area are compared with the weighted world averages, it has been determined that the 40K and 226Ra activities exceed the world averages in most of the sampling points, and the 232Th activities are below the weighted world average except for a few sampling points. It was observed that the artificial 137Cs activities in the field were above the detection limit and exceeded 2 Bq/kg except for a few sampling points. It has been evaluated that the high 137Cs activities in the field may be associated with a human-induced effect, especially the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Parameters such as radiological hazard indices, Ra equivalent activity value, absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose rate were also calculated for the field. Considering the results obtained from these parameters, it was concluded that it would be beneficial to study the Arzular-Yitirmez-Dölek mineralization/alteration field in more detail in terms of natural and artificial radioisotope activities.