Correlations of natural radionuclides in soil with those in sediment from the Danube and nearby irrigation channels

Abstract

The correlation between activity concentrations of some natural radionuclides (238U, 226Ra, 232Th, 40K) measured in soil and in sediment taken from the Danube River and nearby irrigation channels was studied. The soil samples were collected from the northern part of Serbia and the sediment from the Serbian part of the Danube River and from the surrounding irrigation channels. The correlation between 238U and other natural radionuclides in irrigation channel sediments was not as good as in the Danube. One of the possible explanations for this weak correlation can be the different chemical dynamics of 238U in the irrigation channel sediment or changes of the 238U activity concentration in irrigation channel sediment due to some human activities. The evaluation of ratios of activity concentrations of some natural radionuclides could be a more sensitive method for the determination of contaminant, rather than the straightforward analysis of activity concentrations. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.