THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WATERSHED GEOLOGY AND BEACH RADIOACTIVITY,
Abstract
A correlation between the watershed geology of the Ben Lomond Mountain area, north of Santa Cruz, California, and the radioactivity of the beaches receiving sediment from the watershed has been attempted. The radioactivity of stream and littoral sediments have been presented in terms of concentration of thorium as determined by gamma-ray spectroscopy. The results have not shed any light on the watershed geology-beach radioactivity relationship as the area of study failed to produce a radiometric anomaly of sufficient magnitude to be reflected in the littoral sediment. The results do show considerable variation in the thorium content of the stream sediment but the variation is not consistent with any known geological variation. It has been shown that the quartz diorite pluton at Ben Lomond Mountain carries only minor amounts of thorium and could not be responsible for a radiometric anomaly in littoral materials. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0420425
Entities
People
- John R. Byerly
Organizations
- University of California, Berkeley