Airborne gamma-ray spectrometric data interpretation on Wadi Queih and Wadi Safaga area, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Wadi Queih and Wadi Safaga lie in the central part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The airborne gamma-ray spectrometric data of the study area have been interpreted qualitatively and quantitatively and correlated with the surface lithologic units to define the anomalous uranium zones and to reveal if any association is present between the radiometric anomalies and the structural trends.The radiometric data have been treated statistically. The results revealed that the area has a wide range of radioactivity ranging from 0.1 to 23.6 Ur for the total-count (TC), 0.1 to 3.3 % for potassium (K), 0.01 to 19.1 ppm for equivalent uranium (eU), and 0.29 to 18.9 ppm for equivalent thorium (eTh). The calculated CV values for all the rock units in the study area are less than 100% for three radio-elements (K, eU, eTh), except for potassium in Thebes Formation. The younger granites and Duwi Formation have the highest radiometric values. The lowest values exist over ophiolitic metagabbro, basic metavolcanics, metasediments, serpentinites, and Umm Gheig Formation. The generated composite radio-elements and composite image maps define the locations of the high anomalous radiometric and eU zones as bright white areas. The most radioactive anomalies have NW-SE and NE-SW trends.