Radiogenic Heat Production Due to Natural Radionuclides in the Sediments of Bonny River, Nigeria

Abstract

In this study, the analysis of sediment samples was carried out to determine the concentrations, distribution and the pattern of Radiogenic Heat Production of radioactive elements in sediment samples from Bonny River, Rivers State, Nigeria. Twenty sediment samples were collected at various sites of the River and the analysis of the sediment samples using a cylindrical NaI(Tl) detector reveals that the contents of the radioactive elements (238U, 232Th and 40K ) in the sediments fall below the WHO’s critical values of contaminated sediment/soil. Field observations and sediment properties show that the sediments were derived from weathering of preexisting sedimentary bedrocks which constitute the geology of the area. The results also show that the contribution and rate of heat production of 40K, 238U and 232Th in the samples vary significantly with geological locations, which ranged 0.0286 µW/m3 to 2.5094 µW/m3 with an average value of 0.6002±0.64 µW/m3, with 232Th as the major element which predominates in heat production for the Bonny River sediment of the study area, while 238U and 40K are trace elements. The radiogenic heat production elements (RHPE) contribution shows that all the points on the sites have the same pattern of radiogenic heat production contribution of the elements to the radiogenic heat production (RHP).