Natural Gamma Production

Common elements such as potassium (K), uranium (U) and thorium (Th) are naturally unstable and spontaneously decay, releasing gamma rays. Minerals that contain these elements (such as clay minerals and K-feldspar) are thus a major source of natural gamma radiation.

The MSCL has three (3) lead shielded NaI(Tl) detectors which have been optically coupled to a photomultiplier tube and connected to a multi-channel analyser.

Natural gamma measurements can be used for core-to-borehole correlation, core-to-core correlation and to indicate the shale content of a core. Actual concentrations of K, U and Th can be estimated if full spectral data is collected.

The natural gamma production results can be correlated with XRF analysis, infrared spectra and magnetic susceptibility to more accurately map the core lithology.

For more information about the natural gamma spectrometer see the Geotek website: Natural Gamma Spectrometry – Geotek Ltd.