Abstract:
It has become clear that radon’s behaviour can generate valuable information on the study of the present-day tectonic activity, particularly faults and fractures within the earth’s crust. The aim of this study was to apply a soil gas radon technique to provide an alternative tool to typical geophysical methods, such as electrical resistivity survey, for identifying or locating the fault and fracture zones. For this purpose, a RAD 7 portable active radon detector device coupled with a soil probe device and CR-39 (Track Etch Method) were employed to detect the soil gas radon emanation from the faults and fracture zones. Five sites in the Khlong Marui Fault in southern Thailand were selected for radon measurement in this study. The Khlong Marui fault has an orientation in the NE-SW direction. At each site, soil gas radon measurement was performed along 3 investigated lines, each, approximately 100 -150 m in length crossing the interpreted fault zones. It was found that radon concentration in soil was anomalously high in all fault zones by a factor of 3–8 above background levels. Three soil gas radon profiles were related and agreed well with the directions of the active fault obtained from the trench logging survey. It was found that radon concentrations became also much lower at the nearby inactive zones in comparison with those along the active ones. This study strongly confirms that the radon gas measurement technique is a suitable alternative tool for detecting and mapping active fault zones.