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Comparison of γ-ray spectrometry and ICP-MS methods for measuring radioactive heat-producing elements of rocks: a case study on borehole samples from the Sichuan Basin, China

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Abstract

We compared the consistency of γ-ray spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry by analyzing measurement results of the radioactive heat-producing elements U, Th, and K from borehole samples. This analysis was based on 49 samples obtained from mudstone, siltstone, and carbonate rock, and 11 of the 15 control groups showed great consistency. The radioactive heat production (RHP) of carbonate rocks was relatively low (0.23–0.63 µW m−3) and was mainly contributed by U. Mudstone and siltstone have higher RHPs, which was 1.73 ± 0.46 and 2.04 ± 0.49 µW m−3, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41690133, 41772248), the “National Science and Technology Major Project” of China (Grant No. 2017ZX05008004) and the Beijing Training Project of Science and Technology Nova and Leading Talent (Grant No. Z171100001117163). The first author is grateful to the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) for supporting him stay in the University of Glasgow as a sponsored researcher. We thank Dr. Bing Xu and Mu Liu for their help in the sample analysis and the reviewers for their constructive suggestions, which clarified many points of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Petroleum Resources and Prospecting, China University of Petroleum, Beijing, 102249, China

    Chuanqing Zhu & Nansheng Qiu

  2. School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Chuanqing Zhu

  3. Tianjin Geothermal Exploration and Development-Design Institute, Tianjin, 300250, China

    Ming Xu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Shengbiao Hu

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  1. Chuanqing Zhu
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Correspondence to Chuanqing Zhu.

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Zhu, C., Xu, M., Qiu, N. et al. Comparison of γ-ray spectrometry and ICP-MS methods for measuring radioactive heat-producing elements of rocks: a case study on borehole samples from the Sichuan Basin, China. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 314, 1527–1537 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5576-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5576-4

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