Radon Monitoring in Soil Gas and Ground Water for Earthquake Prediction Studies in North West Himalayas, India

Abstract

Continuous monitoring of soil gas radon at Sarol and the daily monitoring of radon concentration in water at Banikhet is carried out in Chamba valley of North West Himalayas, India ¡§a well known seismic zone¡¨ to study the correlation of radon anomalies in relation to seismic activities of the region. Radon monitoring in soil gas was carried out by using Barasol probe manufactured by Algade France and the radon content in water was recorded using RAD7 radon monitoring system of Durridge Company, USA. The effect of meteorological parameters viz. temperature and pressure on soil gas radon emission has been studied. Correlation coefficient has been calculated between radon in soil gas, soil temperature and soil pressure. The radon anomalies observed in the region have been correlated with the seismic events in the magnitude range 2.2 to 5.0 recorded by Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology Dehradun in NW Himalayan. Empirical equations between earthquake magnitude, epicentral distance and precursor time were examined, and respective constants were determined.

Keywords

• Radon
• NW Himalayas
• Barasol probe
• RAD7
• Earthquake precursor