Determination of the natural radioactivity, elemental composition and geological provenance of sands from Douala in the littoral region of Cameroon using X-ray and γ~ray spectrometry

摘要

This study aimed to determine the concentration of natural radionuclides, the chemical composition, and the geological provenance of sand samples from seven large quarries within the Douala Basin and surrounding locations within the Littoral Region of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea. The analyses were undertaken on a total of 24 samples, using both gamma- and X-ray spectrometry techniques. Gamma spectrometric results indicated that the samples from the study area contained amounts of natural radioactivity that are less than the globally agreed safe limits. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry yielded quantitative major, minor, and trace element concentrations that were used in tectonic discrimination diagrams, indicating that these sediments were deposited in a passive margin environment. These concentration and natural radionuclide radioactivity level data provide a reference database for this region of Cameroon as well as for the wider Gulf of Guinea.