Airborne geophysical surveys in the north-central region of Goias (Brazil): implications for radiometric characterization of tropical soils
Progress obtained in analysis aerogammaspectrometric and aeromagnetic survey data for the north-central region of the state of Goias (Brazil) are presented. The results obtained have allowed not only determination of the abundances of naturally radioactive elements but also new insights into the processes that determine the radiometric characteristics of the main soil types. There are indications that the radioelement abundances of soils are not only related to their physical properties, but also chemical characteristics of source rocks from which they are derived. For example, oxisol soils derived from the felsic source rocks of the Mara Rosa and Green stone belts have equivalent uranium (eU) values higher than 1.7 ppm, while those derived from source rocks of the relatively more basic Uruaçu Group and sediment sequences of Proterozoic age are characterized by eU contents of less than 1 ppm. Oxisol soils of the Median massif, ultisol soils of the Paranoá, Canastra and Araxá Groups, cambisol soils of the Araí Group and plintosol soils of the Bambuí Group constitute an intermediate class with eU contents in the range of 1-1.3 ppm. Equivalent thorium abundances of soil types display similar trends, the range of variation being 4-16 ppm. Potassium abundances on the other hand are rather uniform with values in the range of 1-1.3%, the only exception being the sedimentary sequences of Proterozoic age, which has a mean value of 0.7%. These observations have been considered as indicative of characteristic features of tropical soils in the study area. In this context, we point out the possibility of using results of aerogammaspectrometry surveys as a convenient complementary tool in identifying geochemical zoning of soils in tropical environments. The ratios of eU/K are found to fall in the range of 1-1.7, which is typical of common soils. The ratios of eTh/K exhibit a relatively wide interval, with values in the range of 4-16. The ratios of eTh/eU are found to have values in the range of 2-12. Also, there appears to be a rather reasonable association between the spatial distributions of positive anomalies of the radioelement ratios with the lineaments derived from the vertical derivative of the magnetic field. The map of the analytic signal of the magnetic field also reveals a similar association. Such associations imply that the processes which determine evolutionary trends of soil types are somehow related to the events that control the development of structural features in subsurface layers.