Estimación de la concentración de gas radón en suelo mediante el método weeks en la falla Pallatanga en el sector de Cajabamba

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the concentration of radon gas present in the soil, using the Weeks method in the Pallatanga fault, Cajabamba area. Thirty sampling points whose location is perpendicular to the Pallatanga fault were established as well as the correlation between the physicochemical characteristics of the soil (dependent variable) and the concentration of the gas (independent variable). The research was carried out in two phases which were the field phase and the laboratory phase. During the first phase the soil was sampled for its physicochemical analysis and the concentration of radon-222 in soil was determined using a detection system consisting of a RAD 7 detector, in which the weeks method is established. In addition, a drying unit and a stainles- ssteel probe was used during a 2-hour period for each sampling point. In the second phase, the physicochemical characteristics of the soil, such as wet pH, humidity, electrical conductivity, bulk density and organic matter, were calculated using gravimetric methods. Anomalies were statistically determined among the results of radon-222 concentration and the correlation among variables was determined with the use of Pearson's correlation coefficient. Concentration values of 2510 +/- 123 to 42000 +/- 503 Bq/m3 were also obtained. According to the statistical analysis, radon-222 concentration increased at higher altitudes and does not show significant correlations with the physicochemical characteristics of the soil. Therefore, it is concluded that the lower the altitude, the higher the gas concentration and it does not influence on the physicochemical characteristics of the soil. It is recommended to carry out another study where gravimetric parameters which have not been studied in this research are correlated in order to integrate the information obtained and determine the concentration of radon-222 during winter. This will allow determining some variations, since the present study was carried out during summer.