AERORADIOACTIVITY SURVEY AND AREAL GEOLOGY OF THE GEORGIA NUCLEAR LABORATORY AREA, NORTHERN GEORGIA (ARMS-I)

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1962

OSTI ID:4714445

MacKallor, J A

An airborne gamma-radioactivity survey of about 7000 square miles around the Georgia Nuclear Laboratory (GNL) in Dawson County, Ga., was made by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Division of Biology and Medicine, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission. The project was flown perpendicular to the regional strike at a nominal elevation of 500 ft above the ground with a flight-line spacing of 1 mile. Radioactivity contacts shown on a 1:250,000 map delineate areas of similar radioactivity, which, in general, trend northeast, parallel to the geologic strike. Many, but not all, formations correlate closely with radioactivity units. Changes of radioactivity within some formations may indicate facies changes. In the GNL area the Cartersville fault, which dlosely coincides with a prominent radioactivity contact, separates the Valley and Ridge physiographic province from the Piedmont to the east. Within the Valley and Ridge province bedrock consists of sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic age; the radioactivity is from 300 to 900 counts per second (cps). Areas of limestone and dolomite are characterized by radioactivity lows, usually less than 500 cps. Most areas of shale have a radioactivity of 600 to 900 cps. Bedrock in the Piedmont consists mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks of Precambrian and Palezoic ages, and the radioactivity ranges from about 250 to 2000 cps. The least radioactive rocks (250 to 500 cps) are hornblende gneiss, dioritic injection gneiss, and some of the granitic gneiss. The most radioactive rock is the augen gneiss in Bartow and Cherokee Counties (1000 to 2000 cps). Some of the granitic gneiss, biotite gneiss and schist, and the Talladega Slate have a radioactivity of slightly more than 1000 cps. Composite samples of surficial material were collected from sites directly under the flight path of the aircraft. After analysis for equivalent uranium based upon the number of counts recorded by geiger tubes, the samples were stored for future reference. The equivalent uranium was plotted against cps obtained from the aerial surveying. From 600 cps, which corresponds to slightiy more than 0.001 percent equivalent uranium, to 1600 cps, each 200-cps increase corresponds to an increase of almost 0.001 percent equivalent uranium. (auth)

• Research Organization: Geological Survey, Washington, D.C.; and Division of Biology and Medicine, AEC
• NSA Number: NSA-17-021926
• OSTI ID: 4714445
• Report Number(s): CEX-58.4.8
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English

Related Subjects

AIR
AIRCRAFT
BUILDINGS
CALCIUM CARBONATES
DIAGRAMS
EARTH
ENVIRONMENT
FLIGHT PATH
GAMMA RADIATION
GEOGRAPHY
GEOLOGY
GNEISS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
LEVELS
MAGNESIUM CARBONATES
MONITORING
PARTICLE TRACKS
QUANTITY RATIO
RADIOACTIVITY
ROCKS
SAMPLING
STANDARDS
STORAGE
SURFACES
URANIUM
VARIATIONS