Enrichment and vertical profiles of 210Po and 210Pb in monazite areas of coastal Karnataka

A study on radiation level and radionuclide distribution in the environment of coastal Karnataka has revealed the presence of low-level monazite deposit in the Ullal beach area. The paper presents systematic studies on the distribution, enrichment and vertical profiles of 210Po and 210Pb, important daughter products of 238U, in Ombattu Kere, Summer Sand and the Bhagavathi Temple region of the Ullal beach area of coastal Karnataka. Sand samples collected at different depths from these locations were analyzed for 210Po and 210Pb activities to understand the distribution, enrichment and vertical profiles of these radionuclides in monazite area. The activity of 210Po in the Ullal region is found to vary from 1.7 to 43.2 Bq kg−1 with a mean value of 11.2 Bq kg−1 and that of 210Pb varies from 1.0 to 66.7 Bq kg−1 with a mean value of 19.1 Bq kg−1. The mean 210Po/210Pb ratio was observed to be 0.6. The absorbed gamma dose rate in the region varies in the range 39–460 nGy h−1 with a mean value of 193 nGy h−1.