Soil gas radon concentrations measurements in terms of great soil groups

WOS: 000329415800021PubMed ID: 24012765In this study, soil gas radon concentrations were investigated according to locations, horizontal soil layers and great soil groups around Tuzla Fault, Seferihisar-Izmir. Great soil groups are a category that described the horizontal soil layers under soil classification system and distributions of radon concentration in the great soil groups are firstly determined by the present study. According to the obtained results, it has been showed that the radon concentrations in the Koluvial soil group are higher than the other soil groups in the region. Also significant differences on location in same great soil group were determined. The radon concentrations in the Koluvial soil groups were measured with respect to soil layers structures (A, B, Cl, and C2). It has been observed that the values increase with depth of soil (C2>C1>B>A). The main reason may be due to the meteorological factors that have limited effect on radon escape from deep layers. Although fault lines pass thought the study area radon concentrations were varied location to location, layer to layer and great group to great group. The study shows that a detailed location description should be performed before soil radon measurements for earthquake predictions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [109Y213]This research work was supported by the grants from The Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) Contract No: 109Y213. We are also thankful for the support of the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Editor, Dr. Paul Martin, and the reviewers of our manuscript; the final form of our manuscript was greatly enriched by their suggestions