Gamma-ray spectrometry method is widely used in various fields. The study area is located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt and covers about 1200 square kilometers. The rock units in the study area can be organized in ages from the Precambrian (mainly granite) to Quaternary. Airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data were collected by Aero-Service, 1984. The main objectives of this study are to detect hydrothermal alteration zones and the uranium anomalies in the study area. The processing of the data was conducted to generate radioactive element concentration maps (K, eU and eTh). Hydrothermal alteration zones such as potassic and phyllic altered areas were detected using the Potassium Ternary Composite Image map and the eTh/K map. The F-parameter technique and K ideal method were used to determine the locations of the potassium-enrichment. These locations are characteristically associated with the orogenic gold mineralization in the study area. Fourteen radioactivity zones were classified based on the Interpreted Radio-Spectrometric Zonation (IRSZ) Map. These zones were divided into high, medium and low radioactive response where zones of high radioactive response were revealed as zones 1, 6, 9 and 13. Uranium anomalies have been identified as these anomalies are abundant in eU values and also associated with higher values of eU/eTh and eU/K, where the maximum value of eU is associated with the Younger Granite with a value of 18.831 ppm. These uranium anomalies are associated with Taref Formation, Post-Hammamat felsite, Quaternary deposits and Younger Granite. The locations of uranium anomalies are considered important exploration targets, as these locations are promising and have priority for ground geophysical and geological follow-up.
| Published in | Earth Sciences (Volume 11, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18 |
| Page(s) | 121-129 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry, Uranium, Radioactivity, Eastern Desert of Egypt
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APA Style
Ahmed Tarshan. (2022). Detection of Uranium Anomalies and Alteration Zones Using Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry at Gabal Attala and Its Surrounding Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Earth Sciences, 11(3), 121-129. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18
ACS Style
Ahmed Tarshan. Detection of Uranium Anomalies and Alteration Zones Using Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry at Gabal Attala and Its Surrounding Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Earth Sci. 2022, 11(3), 121-129. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18
AMA Style
Ahmed Tarshan. Detection of Uranium Anomalies and Alteration Zones Using Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry at Gabal Attala and Its Surrounding Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt. Earth Sci. 2022;11(3):121-129. doi: 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18
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Download@article{10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18,
author = {Ahmed Tarshan},
title = {Detection of Uranium Anomalies and Alteration Zones Using Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry at Gabal Attala and Its Surrounding Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt},
journal = {Earth Sciences},
volume = {11},
number = {3},
pages = {121-129},
doi = {10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.earth.20221103.18},
abstract = {Gamma-ray spectrometry method is widely used in various fields. The study area is located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt and covers about 1200 square kilometers. The rock units in the study area can be organized in ages from the Precambrian (mainly granite) to Quaternary. Airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data were collected by Aero-Service, 1984. The main objectives of this study are to detect hydrothermal alteration zones and the uranium anomalies in the study area. The processing of the data was conducted to generate radioactive element concentration maps (K, eU and eTh). Hydrothermal alteration zones such as potassic and phyllic altered areas were detected using the Potassium Ternary Composite Image map and the eTh/K map. The F-parameter technique and K ideal method were used to determine the locations of the potassium-enrichment. These locations are characteristically associated with the orogenic gold mineralization in the study area. Fourteen radioactivity zones were classified based on the Interpreted Radio-Spectrometric Zonation (IRSZ) Map. These zones were divided into high, medium and low radioactive response where zones of high radioactive response were revealed as zones 1, 6, 9 and 13. Uranium anomalies have been identified as these anomalies are abundant in eU values and also associated with higher values of eU/eTh and eU/K, where the maximum value of eU is associated with the Younger Granite with a value of 18.831 ppm. These uranium anomalies are associated with Taref Formation, Post-Hammamat felsite, Quaternary deposits and Younger Granite. The locations of uranium anomalies are considered important exploration targets, as these locations are promising and have priority for ground geophysical and geological follow-up.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Detection of Uranium Anomalies and Alteration Zones Using Airborne Gamma-Ray Spectrometry at Gabal Attala and Its Surrounding Area, Eastern Desert, Egypt AU - Ahmed Tarshan Y1 - 2022/06/27 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18 DO - 10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18 T2 - Earth Sciences JF - Earth Sciences JO - Earth Sciences SP - 121 EP - 129 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-5982 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.earth.20221103.18 AB - Gamma-ray spectrometry method is widely used in various fields. The study area is located in the Central Eastern Desert of Egypt and covers about 1200 square kilometers. The rock units in the study area can be organized in ages from the Precambrian (mainly granite) to Quaternary. Airborne gamma-ray spectrometry data were collected by Aero-Service, 1984. The main objectives of this study are to detect hydrothermal alteration zones and the uranium anomalies in the study area. The processing of the data was conducted to generate radioactive element concentration maps (K, eU and eTh). Hydrothermal alteration zones such as potassic and phyllic altered areas were detected using the Potassium Ternary Composite Image map and the eTh/K map. The F-parameter technique and K ideal method were used to determine the locations of the potassium-enrichment. These locations are characteristically associated with the orogenic gold mineralization in the study area. Fourteen radioactivity zones were classified based on the Interpreted Radio-Spectrometric Zonation (IRSZ) Map. These zones were divided into high, medium and low radioactive response where zones of high radioactive response were revealed as zones 1, 6, 9 and 13. Uranium anomalies have been identified as these anomalies are abundant in eU values and also associated with higher values of eU/eTh and eU/K, where the maximum value of eU is associated with the Younger Granite with a value of 18.831 ppm. These uranium anomalies are associated with Taref Formation, Post-Hammamat felsite, Quaternary deposits and Younger Granite. The locations of uranium anomalies are considered important exploration targets, as these locations are promising and have priority for ground geophysical and geological follow-up. VL - 11 IS - 3 ER -
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