Radon Measurements in Soils along the Coast of Accra from Teshie to Nyanyano, Southeastern Ghana

Abstract

A study has been undertaken along the coast of Accra (Teshie to Nyanyano) in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area to investigate the emission of soil radon gas in the area using Lenin Resin (LR) 115 cellulose nitrate detectors. Twenty seven sampling points were considered for the investigation. A set of detectors were buried at a time and were replaced fortnightly for a period of 2 weeks. Three exposures were made at each location. Due to logistics constraints, the detectors were buried in phases over a period of 15 weeks. After the exposure period, the detectors were etched, air dried in the laboratory and the registered alpha tracks were counted using the Spark counter. The track density was calculated and the radon gas concentration was computed. The radon concentrations ranged from 1.40 kBqm^-3 to 282.87 kBqm^-3 for the period of monitoring. The average soil radon concentration measured during the period of the survey was 24.41 kBqm^-3. Local earthquakes of magnitude ranging from 1.1 to 2.8 on the Richter scale were recorded during the study. Continuous monitoring of the gas could confirm high emanation with the activity of the coastal boundary fault.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.71.2.7063