Transport studies of radon in limestone underlying houses

Conference · Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:6906951

Gammage, R B; Dudney, C S; Wilson, D L; Saultz, R J

In hilly limestone terrains of the southern Appalachians, subterranean networks of solution cavities and fissures present circulatory systems facilitating convective and advective transport of radon-bearing gas. Evidence suggests that the primary driving forces for transport are aerostatic pressure differentials created by the difference between the underground and the outside air temperatures. Examples are presented of houses experiencing elevated indoor radon levels as a consequence of communicating with such subsurface transportation systems. The location of a house near the upper or lower end of a subterranean-circulatory system seems to produce amplification of indoor radon levels in winter or summer, respectively. The transport mechanism for radon-bearing air in karst and its impact on indoor radon need better understanding, both in regard to evaluating the geographical prevalence of the phenomenon and the induced spatial and temporal effects that are possible. This paper reports field studies made at houses in karst regions at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama. A primary radon-transport mechanism is advocated of ascending or descending subsurface columns of air whose flows are largely driven by aerostatic pressure gradients created by the inground-outdoor air temperature differentials. 5 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/ER
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6906951
• Report Number(s): CONF-900724-3; ON: DE90009238; TRN: 90-015620
• Resource Relation: Conference: 5. international conference on indoor air quality and climate, Toronto (Canada), 29 Jul - 3 Aug 1990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS
LIMESTONE
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
RADON 222
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
ALABAMA
CIRCULATING SYSTEMS
COMPLEX TERRAIN
FIELD TESTS
GEOLOGIC FISSURES
OAK RIDGE
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
SPACE DEPENDENCE
SUBSURFACE STRUCTURES
TIME DEPENDENCE
AIR POLLUTION
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BUILDINGS
CARBONATE ROCKS
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION IV
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
MOUNTAINS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
POLLUTION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADON ISOTOPES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
TENNESSEE
TESTING
USA
540230* - Environment
Terrestrial- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
320107 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Building Systems- (1987-)