Geological Formation and Soil Type Impact on Terrestrial Gamma Radiation Dose: A Statistical Approach of Dange Shuni (LGA) Sokoto State Nigeria

Abstract

Background radiation information is a viable tool for mitigating negative influence of the Terrestrial Gamma Radiation Dose rate (TGRD)  on humans and their livelihood, Terrestrial gamma radiation plays significant role in background radiation which largely depends on the  type of soil and fundamental geological pattern in a location. Several In situ evaluation of gamma radiation dose of the varied geological  formations were performed in the area. Handheld Geiger Muller (GM) radiation survey meter (RADOS RDS-31) was used in evaluating the  terrestrial gamma radiation dose while one way (ANOVA) variance analysis was employed to determine and compare the TGRD at  different geological and soil formations. The external radiation dose which ranges from 15 - 270 nGy/h having an overall mean value of  91.95635 nGy/h throughout the geological formations was assessed where the mean value exceeded the global limit of 59 nGyh−1 by 200%, furthermore, external gamma radiation dose rates ranging from 40 to 270 nGy/h with overall mean value of 120.0893 nGy/h. TGRD  across the existing soil types was also evaluated. It was found out that the Dange formation has highest mean TGRD value of 161.1111  nGyh⁻¹ . The assessment reveals significant influence of geological formation and soil type formation on the evaluated TGRD rates of  Dange Formation.