Radon Monitoring for geological exploration: A review
Keywords:
Radon gas; Fatal health hazard; Useful exploration tool; Uranium exploration; Earthquake prediction; Study of active geological faultsAbstract
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive alpha particle emitting colorless, odorless and tasteless gas produced by radioactive decay of uranium and thorium. It plays a dual role in man’s life, being a fatal health hazard to mine workers and common people living in their homes on one hand and a very useful geological tool on the other hand. As a geological tool radon monitoring technique can be used in uranium and hydrocarbon exploration, earthquake prediction, study of active geological faults and geothermal energy sources. With this technique fault zones have been recognized with fairly good precision worldwide. The technique can also be effectively used in hydrologic research, when studying the interactions between groundwater, streams, and rivers. It has found limited use in geothermal prospecting.
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