Sediment Radioactivity Levels of Deep-Water Fishery Grounds in Antalya Bay

Abstract

To evaluate the radiological load of the fisheries ground sediments of deep-water areas in the Antalya Bay, 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs activity concentration levels were measured with the Gamma Spectroscopy technique using a HighResolution Germanium Detector (HPGe). Sediment samples were collected from the seabed surface of five different depth ranges (between 400 – 800 m). De-tected mean radionuclide activities of 226Ra, 232Th, 40K and 137Cs were 16.53±2.41, 17.9±2.54, 371.44±18.44 and 3.91±1.27 Bq kg-1, respectively. The effect of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster in deep water sediments of Antalya Bay was observed. However, the detected radionu-clide concentrations are at acceptable levels according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Keywords

• marine sediment
• hpge
• natural radioactivity
• 137cs