title: A radiometric and petrographic interpretation of discrepancies on uranium content in samples collected at Alte Madonie Mounts region (Sicily, Italy).
abstract: The main goal of this work is to evaluate a correlation between anomalous Uranium (U) content and petrographic features of some soil and rock samples collected at Alte Madonie Mounts region (North-central Sicily, Italy). A total of 41 samples of selected soils and rocks were collected, powdered, dried and sealed in "Marinelli" beakers for 20 days before the measurement to ensure that radioactive equilibrium between (226)Ra and (214)Bi was reached. Gamma-ray spectrometric analysis was used to quantify radioactivity concentrations. Mineralogical and chemical features of the samples were determined by X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscope - Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) analyses. The average values of concentrations of (226)Ra, (228)Ac and (40)K were respectively 30, 17 and 227 Bq kg(-1) while the greatest values were 134, 59 and 748 Bq kg(-1). Linear relationships were observed between (226)Ra, (228)Ac and (40)K concentrations: the activities of (226)Ra and (228)Ac were comparable, while those of (40)K were about 10 times greater. An exception was highlighted for a group of samples where (226)Ra activities were much higher than expectations. Chemical compositions and mineralogical features of the samples have made it possible to justify these anomalies.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare (DiSTeM), Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), Via Archirafi, 26, 90123 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lanzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell'Informazione e Modelli Matematici (DEIM), Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 6, 90128 Palermo, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rizzo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Energia, Ingegneria dell'Informazione e Modelli Matematici (DEIM), Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), Viale delle Scienze, Edificio 6, 90128 Palermo, Italy. Electronic address: elio.tomarchio@unipa.it.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tomarchio
mesh_terms: D001729:Bismuth / Q000032:analysis; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D007558:Italy; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011868:Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D011874:Radiometry; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D011868:Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D001729:Bismuth
keywords: Environmental radioactivity; Gamma-ray spectrometry; Radiation monitoring; X-ray diffractometry; X-ray fluorescence