Radon as a 'Deterministic' Indicator of Natural and Industrial Geodynamic Processes

摘要

Radon has been regarded as an actual precursor to such geodynamic phenomena as rockfalls in deep mines and tectonic earthquakes. Nevertheless, a physical relationship between radon volume activity (RVA) and stress pattern in the rock mass, until recently, has remained obscure. Radon monitoring carried out in deep mining excavations has revealed that the RVA clearly locates the position of extension and compression zones within the rock mass. Furthermore, a monitoring of soil radon in an active seismic region elucidated the RVA behavior reflecting compressional and extensional stress during rock mass surface bending in connection with geodynamic processes. Based on the experiments, a new model is proposed here for the precursors to geodynamic events and their connection with radon exhalation.