Transport studies of radon in limestone underlying houses.

摘要

In hilly limestone terrains of the southern Appalachians, subterranean networks of solution cavities and fissures present circulatory systems facilitating convective and advective transport of radon-bearing gas. Evidence suggests that the primary driving forces for transport are aerostatic pressure differentials created by the difference between the underground and the outside air temperatures. Examples are presented of houses experiencing elevated indoor radon levels as a consequence of communicating with such subsurface transportation systems. The location of a house near the upper or lower end of a subterranean-circulatory system seems to produce amplification of indoor radon levels in winter or summer, respectively. The transport mechanism for radon-bearing air in karst and its impact on indoor radon need better understanding, both in regard to evaluating the geographical prevalence of the phenomenon and the induced spatial and temporal effects that are possible. This paper reports field studies made at houses in karst regions at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Huntsville, Alabama. A primary radon-transport mechanism is advocated of ascending or descending subsurface columns of air whose flows are largely driven by aerostatic pressure gradients created by the inground-outdoor air temperature differentials. 5 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.