Radioactivity levels and concentrations of heavy elements in black sand

Abstract

The radioactivity levels and concentrations of heavy elements in Langkawi black sand have
been studied through gamma ray spectroscopy. Direct gamma counting was used for measuring the activity
of the natural radionuclides uranium, thorium and potassium, and neutron activation analysis for detecting

the presence of other heavy elements. Our results show the activity of uranium is 44.5 pCi g^-1, which is

four times higher than that of thorium (11.6 pCi g^-1) and eight times that of potassium (5.5 pCi g^-1). 7. Ytterbium, thorium, europium, cesium, antimony, scandium, gallium, iron, chromium, cobalt, cerium,

arsenic lanthanum, samarium and hafnium were detected; their concentrations range from 4.9 to