Gamma radiation dose rate in air due to terrestrial radionuclides in southern Brazil: Synthesis by geological units and lithotypes covered by the Serra do Mar Sul AeroGeophysical Project

The absorbed dose rates in air due to terrestrial radionuclides were estimated from aerial gamma spectrometric data for an area of 48,600 km(2) in Southern Brazil. The source data was the Serra do Mar Sul Aero-Geophysical Project back-calibrated in a cooperative work among the Geological Survey of Brazil, the Geological Survey of Canada, and Paterson, Grant & Watson Ltd. The concentrations of eU (ppm), eTh (ppm) and K (%) were converted to dose rates in air (nGy.h(-1)) by accounting for the contribution of each element's concentration. Regional variation was interpreted according to lithotypes and a synthesis was performed according to the basic geological units present in the area. Higher values of total dose were estimated for felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks, with average values varying up to 119 +/- 24 nGy.h(-1), obtained by Anitapolis syenite body. Sedimentary, metasedimentary and metamafic rocks presented the lower dose levels, and some beach deposits reached the lowest average total dose, 18.5 +/- 8.2 nGy.h(-)1. Thorium gives the main average contribution in all geological units, the highest value being reached by the nebulitic gneisses of Atuba Complex, 71 +/- 23 nGy.h(-1). Potassium presents the lowest average contribution to dose rate in 53 of the 72 units analyzed, the highest contribution being obtained by intrusive alkaline bodies (28 +/- 12 nGy.h(-1)). The general pattern of geographic dose distribution respects well the hypotheses on geo-physicochemical behavior of radioactive elements.