Pages: 79-84

Authors: Zdenka Stojanovska, Blazo Boev, Peter Bossew, Mimoza Ristova, Gorgi Dimov,
Ivan Boev, and Zora S. Žunić

Abstract

To establish baseline values for concentrations of terrestrial radionuclides for the Republic of North Macedonia, a survey covering the entire territory was performed. The 213 soil samples were collected from regions around the major settlements and cities, approximately evenly distributed over the geotectonic units which constitute the country's geological foundation. The specific activities of radionuclides were measured by gamma spectrometry. The following geometric mean values and geometric standard deviations were obtained: 550 Bqkg^-1 (1.47) for ⁴⁰K, 37 Bqkg^-1 (1.53) for ²²⁶Ra, 38 Bqkg^-1 for ²³⁸U, and 38 Bqkg^-1 (1.53) for ²³²Th in dry soil. The relation between specific activities of natural radionuclides and geology was investigated. Correlation between radionuclides, which may serve as additional geochemical indicators, and geology could not be found convincingly. Mutual correlations between ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁸U, and ²³²Th activities were found to be high (Spearman p about 0.8), whereas the ones between these and ⁴⁰K are a bit lower, somewhat above p = 0.6.

Key words: ⁴⁰K, ²²⁶Ra, ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, gamma spectrometry, soil, geology, lithostratigraphic unit

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