Accepted Manuscript

Radioactive heat production of Syrian territory

Jamal Asfahani

PII: S0969-8043(19)30032-6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.03.037
Reference: ARI 8667

To appear in: Applied Radiation and Isotopes

Received Date: 10 January 2019

Revised Date: 28 February 2019
Accepted Date: 27 March 2019

Please cite this article as: Asfahani, J., Radioactive heat production of Syrian territory, Applied Radiation
and Isotopes (2019), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apradiso.2019.03.037.

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 Radioactive Heat Production of Syrian Territory

Jamal. Asfahani
Geology Department, Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, P.O. Box 6091, Damascus- Syria
E-mail: cscientific3@aec.org.sy <J. Asfahani>
________________________________________________________________________________
HIGH LIGHTS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 748 Rock samples taken from Syrian territory have been analyzed by γ-ray
spectrometry technique to evaluate eU, eTh, and K%.
 The analyzed eU, eTh, and K% are used to evaluate and map radioactive heat
production (HP) of Syria.
 Fractal modeling technique with concentration-number mode (C-N) and log-
log plots are proposed and used to map eU, and HP of Syrian territory.
 High values of HP are directly related to phosphatic deposits in Syria.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abstract
Gamma-ray spectrometry technique was applied to estimate eU, eTh and K% of 748
rock samples from Syrian territory. The spectrometry results are used to evaluate and
map the radioactive heat production (HP) of Syria. A new approach consisting in
using the multi-fractal technique with the concentration-number model (C-N), and
log-log plots are originally proposed and applied to map the distribution of uranium
concentration, and HP of Syria. According to this approach, different eU and HP
ranges related to different litho-types are differentiated. The advantages of proposing
and applying the fractal technique is that the boundaries of the distinguished
radioactive ranges of eU and HP coincide well with the lithological boundaries, which
gives this technique its superiority over other traditional statistical methods. The
fractal C-N model with the use of log-log plots proved its efficacy in differentiating
between several eU and HP populations, related directly to the geology of Syrian
territory. The fractal model argues for four threshold break points, corresponding to
uranium concentrations of 3.1, 7.38, 16.6 and 28.8 ppm, and to a HP of 0.715, 1.86,
3.63 and 6.26 μW/ m3. The highest heat production ranges are mainly related to the
phosphatic deposits, characterized by highest uranium content.

__________________________________________________________________________________
K EY W O R D S
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Radioactive heat production.

Gamma-ray spectrometry .
Syrian territory.
_____________________________________________________________________

1
1. Introduction

Atomic Energy Commission of Syria, with the cooperation of the International

Atomic Energy Agency, and Riso National Laboratory (Riso National Laboratory
[RNL], 1987; Jubeli, 1990) started in 1987 the project SYR/86/005 for uranium
prospecting in Syria. Airborne and carborne gamma-ray spectrometric surveys were
carried out on Syrian territory (Fig.1). The Airborne surveys covered Syrian desert
(Area-1), Northern Palmyrides (Area-3), and Ar-Rassafeh Badyieh (Area-2). The
carborne survey covered the rest of Syria.

Fig. 1: Areas covered by airborne and carborne gamma-ray spectrometry (Riso,

1987).
The dataset merging technique was used to compile the available airborne and
ground-based gamma-ray spectrometric survey data in order to establish the total
radioactivity (TC) and uranium distribution (eU) maps of Syrian territory (Asfahani et
al., 2016). During this merging procedure, the attenuation of the airborne survey was
corrected to match a 2 m clearance above the ground by using a simple exponential
function of N = No e-μh (Asfahani et al., 2016).
The most important findings of those maps clearly indicated that the observed high
concentrations of uranium are strongly related with phosphate deposits of central
Syria. The richest phosphorite outcrops in central southern Palmyrides have been
economically mined for several yearsin Al-Sharquieh and Khneifis open-pit mines,
located 45 km and 65 km southwest of Palmyra respectively (Fig.1).

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 Many successive researches for uranium prospecting were carried out in Syria as parts
of the national project for uranium exploration in Syria (No. SYR/86/005), which
started in 1986 and lasted for 15 years. The researches were essentially concentrated
on the phosphate areas of the Palmyrides region, and they were carried out in separate
stages. During these researches, more than eight hundreds of soil and rocky samples
were collected at successive time intervals. The majority of these samples were taken
from surface and near surface lithofacies, with approximate sizes range from 250 to
500 g. Eventually, all samples were air-dried, sieved and chemically analyzed for
determining the concentrations of eU, eTh and K, by using gamma-ray spectrometry
technique (Asfahani et al., 2016).
Different hypotheses were already proposed for explaining the origin of the
mentioned gamma ray anomalous radioactivity, and for uranium prospecting in Syria.
These hypotheses have been basically oriented towards localizing different
appropriate uranium traps mainly in northern Palmyrides (Area-3) (Asfahani et al.,
2010; and Asfahani et al., 2016-a), and in Syrian desert (Area-1) (Asfahani et al.,
2015; Asfahani et al., 2016-b). The already determined uranium traps still necessitate
more detailed geological investigations, with the recommendation of applying
different modern geophysical and geochemical techniques to know the uranium
behavior with depth.
The aim of this paper is to use the spectrometric gamma analysis results of only 748
rock samples to estimate and map the radioactive heat production (HP) of Syrian
territory. The rest of rock samples (52 samples) are incomplete for eU, eTh, and K%,
and couldn’t be consequently used for heat production estimation.
Different techniques have been already applied to compute and estimate the
radioactive heat production, such as the airborne spectrometry gamma-ray technique
(Salem et al., 2005; Yousef, 2016; Asfahani et al., 2016-a; and Asfahani 2018),
natural gamma ray well logging technique (Bücker and Rybach,1996; Asfahani,
2019), and on rock samples in the laboratory (Fernandez et al., 1998).
A new approach with applying multi-fractal concentration number model (C-N) and
log-log plots is originally proposed and used in this paper to map both the uranium
concentration and the HP distribution for Syria.
The main objectives of this paper are:
1. to determine the main statistical characteristics of the measured eU, eTh, and K%, of
the analyzed rock samples.

3
2. to estimate the radioactive heat production HP.
3. to map the uranium concentration, and HP of Syria by applying the multi-fractal
approach.
2. Geological Setting
Syria is located in the northwestern part of Arabian peninsula. It is divided
topographically into two main regions; the western mountainous (Anti-Lebanon,
coastal range) and the eastern flat Plains (Syrian Desert, Badiyat Al-Jazzerah). A
system of narrow ridges trending north-eastwards (Palmyride series) branches off
from the Anti-Lebanon and crosses the country. Jabal Abd El-Aziz, located in Badiyat
Al-Jazzerah is also a narrow-mountain ridge of nearly east-west elongation. An
extensive depression called Ad-Daww separates between the southern and northern
Palmyrides. Syria is located on the northern slope of the Arabian platform. The
unstable northern part of the platform contains the Halab uplift, Ad-Daww depression,
J. Al-Bishri and Ash-Shomaryeh uplifts. The stable southern part contains eht Jordan
uplift, Rutbh uplift, J. Al-Arab depression, and Euphrate depression. The Palmyride
fault zone divides the stable and unstable parts (Technoexport, 1967; Bender, 1975;
Dill 2009). The Arabian platform has many inter-platform structural features, cut by
fault systems (Anti-Lebanon, Damascus, Palmyrides, Lattakia-Kalles, Syrian Desert,
Euphrate faults). In the east and northeast the Mesopotamian foredeep is filled by late
Neogene deposits age and cut by deep regional faults (Euphrate). There is to the west
a folded belt, locating parallels to the Afro-Arabian rift valley (Al-Ghab depression),
and extending parallel to the coast line (coastal range) (Technoexport, 1967).
3. HP estimation and fractal analysis
The collected 748 rock samples were crushed, sieved and packed in cylindrical petri
dish (7.0 cm diameter and 1.0 cm height). All samples were sealed for 4 weeks to
reach the secular equilibrium between 222Rn, 220Rn and their progeny prior to counting
via HPGe gamma spectrometry (Asfahani et al., 2016; Asfahani and Abdulhadi;
2001).
Gamma measurements were performed using N-type HPGe detector (Bruker
Company) with relative efficiency of 12.5 % and full widths at half-maximum
(FWHM) of 0.89 and 1.90 keV at 122 and 1333 keV, respectively. Counting was
carried out until adequate counting statistics were achieved for the energy peak of
interest. The spectra obtained were analyzed by GaNASS (Gamma and Neutron
Activation Analysis Spectrum) PC program (Nuclear Analysis Software, 1991).

4
Efficiency calibration was performed using reference samples of QCY48, which
contains (241Am, 109
Cd, 139
Ce, 113
Sn, 137
Cs, 88
Y) and QCYB40 (210Pb and 241
Am)
provided by the AEA Technology QSA GmbH. The IAEA standard reference
materials RGU and RGTh were used to verify the efficiency calibration (AQCS,
1995).
238 210
Activity concentration of U was determined using the progeny, Pb; 46.54 keV
234 226
(4.3 %), Th; 63.3 keV (4.8 %) and 92.8 keV (2.8 %), Ra; 186.21 keV (3.5 %),
214 214
Pb; 295.22 keV (19.3 %) and 351.93 keV (37.6 %), Bi; 1764.4 keV (15.2 %)
(Browne E, and Firestone RB, 1986).
232 212
Activity concentration of Th was determined using Pb; 238.6 keV (43.3 %),
228 208
Ac; 338.3 keV (11.3 %), 911.21 keV (25.8 %), and 968.9 keV (15.8 %), Tl;
583.19 keV (30.6 %) and 2614.5 keV (35.9 %) (Browne E, and Firestone RB, 1986).
40
K was determined at 1,461 keV (10.7 %).
The empirical expression given by (Rybach, 1976) is used to compute the radioactive
heat production (HP) (μW/m3) of a given rock sample:
HP = ρ (0.0952 eU+ 0.0256 eTh + 0.0348 k%) (1)
where ρ (g/cm3) is the dry density of the sample rock,
The densities of the rock samples are acquired and estimated from web sites such as
(http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/mineraldensity-d_1555.html,
http://wiki.chemprime.chemeddl.org/index.php/Density_of_Rocks_and_Soils and
http://www.engineering toolbox.com/density-solids-d_1265.html).
Density of the collected rock samples of Syria varies between a minimum of 1.4
g/cm3 for a sedimentary rock and a maximum of 4.35 g/cm3 for a barite bearing rock.
eU(ppm), eTh(ppm), and K(%) are the concentrations of uranium, thorium, and
potassium respectively.
Equation (1) gives the energy released during alpha, beta, and gamma decay of the
radioelements (Birch, 1954, Rybach, 1976, and Rybach, 1976-a ). The alpha decay of
uranium is the main responsible in producing the radioactive heat production (Birch,
1954), in contrary to the thorium and potassium that have only a limited role in such a
heat production. The application of the same equation (1) gave previous evaluations
of the radioactive heat production from the available airborne spectrometric gamma-
ray data (Richardson and Killeen, 1980; Thompson et al., 1996; Salem et al., 2005;
Yousef, 2016; Asfahani et al., 2016-a; Asfahani 2018).
Mandelbrot (1983) proposed the nonlinear mathematical fractal geometry with
different models, that are frequently used nowadays in several fields of Earth

5
sciences. Concentration-volume (C-V; Afzal et al., 2011), concentration-distance (C-
D; Li et al., 2003), and concentration-number (C-N; Afzal, 2012, Hassanpour and
Afzal 2013), are examples on the different proposed fractal/ multifractal models, that
have useful applications on 2D and 3D geophysical measurements.
The traditional statistics methods, such as histogram analysis, box plot, summation of
mean and standard deviation coefficients and median, that are often applied for
describing the different geophysical populations are not accurate. These methods do
not pay attention to the spatial variability since information about the spatial
correlation is not always available, and only consider the frequency distribution
(Afzal et al., 2010, Afzal et al., 2012). The normality or log-normality is assumed,
while the spatial distribution is disregarded, the shape, extent, and magnitude of the
geophysical anomalous areas are not considered (Agterberg 1995; Shtiza and Tashko
2009; Bíró et al. 2012). The fractal models approach remedies the foregoing
shortcomings, and can be efficaciously applied to isolate the geophysical anomaly
from its background. The straight line segments fitting the log-log plot when using
fractal models individuate some break thresholds points (Zuo 2011; Wang et al.,
2011, Mohammadi et al., 2012). Those break points can be used as boundaries to
separate between different anomalous ranges. The C-N multifractal model approach
has been recently practiced on aerial spectrometric gamma ray data of Northern
Palmyrides (Area-3) (Asfahani, 2018-a), and Syrian desert (Area-1) (Asfahani, 2018),
where useful radioactive isolation anomalies results have been respectively obtained.
The C-N multifractal approach is used to map the eU and HP data obtained from the
surface rock samples measured and investigated in this study.
The concentration-number (C-N) fractal model is described by
N(≥μ) = F μ −D (2)
where μ is the geophysical parameter values, which are in our case eU (ppm), and HP
(μW/m3).
N(≥μ) is the cumulative number of the analyzed geophysical data, which are the
cumulative number of the measured equivalent uranium (CNeU), and the cumulative
number of the computed radioactive heat production (CNHP), with the geophysical
parameter values greater than or equal to μ, D is the scaling exponent or fractal
dimension of the distribution of geophysical parameter values and F is a constant.

6
4. Results

Merging the available airborne and carborne spectrometry gamma ray measurements
shown in Figure.1 has allowed the establishment of the total radioactivity

Fig.2-a: Merged total radioactivity (TC) map of Syria

Fig.2-b: Merged uranium concentration (eU) map of Syria

(TC) and the uranium distribution (eU) maps of Syria as shown in Figures.2 (a
and b) (Asfahani et al., 2016). The high radioactivity and uranium concentration areas
shown on those two maps are strongly related to the phosphatic deposits in Syria.

7
Figure. 3 shows the locations of the radioactive occurrences (Asfahani et al., 2016),
classified in two main categories; the first is directly related to phosphate deposits of
Cretaceous and Paleogene ages, and the second is not related to phosphate deposits.

Fig.3: Radioactive anomalies reported on Syrian geological map: 1. Khneifis

deposits; 2. Ash-Sharqueih (Sawwaneh) deposits; 3. Wadi Gahdeir Al-Hamal
deposits; 4. Al-Awabed deposits within the northern Palmyrides and the newly
discovered Al-Awabed deposits; 5. Al-Abtar deposits; 6. Al-Bardeh phosphate beds;
7. Jabal Abou Rejmeen and Wadi Sikkah phosphate beds; 8. As-Soukhneh deposits;
9. Ash-Shomaryeh secondary uranium in fractured, silicified limestone and fissured
flint; 10. Ain Layloon glauconitic beds and Ain At-Tineh phosphate beds; 11. Goranli
Fukani deposit; 12. Jabal Abou Rabah deposits; 13. Beer Abou Fayyad deposit; 14.
Maaroneh deposits; 15. Fahad Al-Massrab deposit; 16. Thlethawat Al-Jafeh deposit;
17. Wadi El-Murabba'a deposit; 18. Abar Sijri deposit; 19. Kherbet Hanorah area; 20.
Al-Bayyarat area; 21. Kherbet As-Swwaneh area; 22. Wadi Ratkah; and 23. Al-
Bassit. d 23. Al-Bassit.
More than 800 rock samples (Figure. 4) have been analyzed in the laboratory by
gamma-ray spectrometry technique to determine their content of uranium, thorium
and potassium (Asfahani et al., 2016; Asfahani and Abdulhadi; 2001). 748 of which
have been only selected to compute the radioactive heat production HP, where

8
complete measurements for eU, eTh and K% are available. Table 1 shows the main
statistical characteristics of eU, eTh, K% and HP for those 748 rock samples, where
their locations are shown in Fig.4.

Fig.4: Locations of 748 rock samples collected for gamma-ray spectrometric

analysis in the laboratory

Equivalent uranium (eU) concentration of the analyzed rock samples varies between
0.80 and 48.8 ppm, with an average of 4.62 ppm and a standard deviation σ of 6 ppm.
The secondary uranium attached with the phosphate deposits is the main responsible
of the high observed values of eU in the analyzed rock samples. Equivalent thorium
(eTh) concentration of the analyzed rock samples varies between 0 and 35.80 ppm,
with an average of 4 ppm and a standard deviation σ of 3.95 ppm. Potasium (K%)
concentration of the analyzed rock samples varies between 0 and 5.70%, with an
average of 0.52% and a standard deviation σ of 0.58%. The gamma spectrometry
results of the analyzed rock samples are summarized in Table.1.
Table [1]: Spectrometric gamma results of the analyzed 748 rock
samples

eU(ppm eTh(ppm K(% HP

) ) ) (μW/m3)
Min 0.80 0 0 0.080

Max 48.8 35.80 0.90 9.00

Average 4.62 4 0.00 3.11

Variance 36 15.64 0.10 3.80

σ 6 3.95 0.08 3.10

9
 Skenwess 3.60 3.60 1.00 0.82
Kurtosis 14.8 20.43 20.63 8.01

According to equation (1), HP varies between a minimum of 0.09 and a maximum of

7.99 μW/m3, with an average of 1.33 μW/m3 and a standard deviation of 1.34 μW/m3.
The standard deviations σ and the averages of eU and HP shown in Table [1] indicate
that the data is not normally distributed. The traditional statistical methods are poor
tools to describe spatially the variable irregular distribution of the treated rock
samples. The proposed multi fractal technique helps therefore to overcome this
sample distribution bias.
Strong correlation is observed between uranium concentration and HP (Fig.5-a),
where R2 is of 0.86. Such a high correlation indicates the uranium dominance in
producing heat, compared with thorium and potassium. The thorium and potassium
results indicate weaker correlations with HP (Fig.5 (b and c)). Thorium shows two
clusters; the first indicates a positive correlation, while the second has no evident
trend. The same remarks as for eTh are observed for the correlation between K% and
HP, where two clusters exist (Fig.5-c).
The magnitude of heat production values obtained presently through the 748 rock
samples is in agreement and comparable to those already obtained by aerial
spectrometry gamma technique and natural gamma ray logging technique, while
characterizing the HP for Northern Palmyrides (Area-3) (Asfahani et al., 2016-a),
Syrian desert (Area-1) (Asfahani, 2018), and Khneifis deposit (Asfahani, 2019). The
maximums HP which have been already obtained for those three regions are
4.17μW/m3, 7.23μW/m3 and 7.97 μW/m3 respectively.

10
 Fig. 5-a: The relation between eU and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples

Fig. 5-b: The relation between eTh and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples

Fig.5-c:The relation between K% and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples
5. Discussion
We use fractal concentration number (C-N) model and logarithmic-logarithmic plots
to characterize and map eU and HP of Syria. The justifications of proposing and using
fractal (C-N) model and the log-log plots are discussed in this paper, where it

11
overcomes the irregular and the non normal distribution of the treated sample data,
that cannot be handled by the traditional statistical technique.
The study and analysis of log-log plots show different break points, that could be
used as thresholds and geological boundaries between different kinds of lithology.
The analysis of the 748 rock samples only with the use of log–log plots of N(≥μ)
versus μ (eU, and HP) show straight line segments with different slopes−D
corresponding to different radioactivity ranges.
The breakpoints on the log-log plots of eU and HP distinguish consequently between
different radioactive populations (Figs. 6-7). Four threshold break points C1, C2, C3,
and C4 are shown on the (C-N) log-log plot of eU at the locations of 0.486, 0.868,
1.22, and 1.46 (Fig.6-a). These points correspond to concentrations of uranium of 3.1,
7.38, 16.6, and 28.8 ppm respectively. The four break points correspond to five eU
ranges as follows: The first range is less than 3.1 eU, the second range is between 3.1
and 7.38 eU, the third range is between 7.38 and 16.6 eU, the fourth range is between
16.6 and 28.8 eU , and the fifth range is bigger than 28.8 eU.

Fig.6-a: Log-log plot for the measured eU parameter on 748 rock samples in Syria
These range values are used to characterize and map the eU distributions for Syrian
territory (Fig.6-b).

12
Fig.6-b: Map for the measured eU on 748 rock samples in Syria; ranges are according
the results of the multi-fractal technique
The comparison between the map of eU (Fig.6-b) obtained purely according to the
fractal C-N model, applied on 748 rock samples, and that obtained by merging of
carborne and airborne data (Fig.2-b) shows generally an acceptable agreement
between them, where high uranium concentration ranges are related to phosphatic
deposits. The comparison of eU map (Fig.6-b) with Figure.3 also gives useful insights
about the already described radioactive occurrences and their eU contents.
Four threshold break points C1, C2, C3, and C4 are indicated on the C-N log-log plot
of the heat production (HP), at the locations of -0.145, 0.269, 0.56, and 0.797
respectively as shown in Fig.7-a.
,

13
 Fig.7-a: Log- log plot for the computed HP parameter on 748 rock samples in Syria
These points indicate a HP of 0.715, 1.862, 3.63 and 6.26 μW/m3 respectively. The
mentioned four break points correspond to five radioactive heat production ranges HP
as follows: The first range is less than 0.715 μw/m3, the second range is between
0.715 and 1.862 μw/m3, the third range is between 1.862 and 3.63 μw/m3, the fourth
range is between 3.63 and 6.26 μw/m3, and the fifth range is bigger than 6.26 μw/m3.
The five HP ranges are used to characterize and map of the HP distributions for
Syrian territory as shown in Fig.7-b.

14
 Fig.7-b: Map for the computed heat production (HP) on 748 rock samples in Syria;
ranges are according the results of the multi-fractal technique
It is to mention that the high eU fourth range between of 16.6 and 28.8 eU and the
high HP fourth range between 3.63 and 6.26 μW/m3 are concentrated in the
phosphatic deposits locations.

6. Conclusion

The content of eU, eTh, and K% of 748 rock samples taken from Syrian territory has
been determined by applying gamma-ray spectrometry technique. The obtained values
of the eU, eTh, and K% of those 748 analyzed rock samples are used for estimating
radioactive heat production HP for Syria. A new approach with the use of
concentration-number (C-N) fractal model and log-log plots is originally proposed
and applied on the results of 748 rock samples to map the measured eU and the
computed HP for Syria. The application of the proposed fractal technique allows us to
distinguish between different HP ranges related to different litho-types. Different HP
populations can be therefore differentiated while mapping the computed HP for
Syrian territory with the use of multi-fractal approach.
The advantages and the superiority of using such a fractal technique is that the
boundaries of the isolated radioactive ranges of eU and HP coincide with the
lithological boundaries. The fractal C-N model with the use of log-log plots proves its
efficacy in differentiating between several eU and HP populations, related directly to
the geology of Syrian territory. The magnitude and variations of HP of Syria are

15
evaluated through establishing the Syrian HP map. The HP range between 3.63 and
6.26 μW/m3 is related directly with the phosphatic deposits enriched in uranium
concentrations. The new HP data of Syrian territory will be useful for characterizing
the thermal evolution and temperature distribution of the sedimentary basins of Syria.

Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Dr. I. Othman, General Director of Syrian Atomic
Energy Commission, for his permission to publish this paper. Geologists R. Al-Hent
and M. Aissa from geology department are thanked for their cooperation. Geologist
B. Katta from geology department is also thanked for Surfer production of two figures
(6-b, and 7-b). The two anonymous reviewers are thanked for their professional critics
and remarks that improve the final version of this paper. Dr. Jeffrey Schweitzer, the
editor of ARI (Niclear Geophysic) Journal is cordially thanked for his collaboration
during the different stages of paper processing.

16
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List of Figures

Fig. 1: Total areas covered by airborne and carborne gamma-ray spectrometry (Riso,
1987)
Fig. 2-a: Merged total radioactivity (TC) map of Syria
Fig. 2-b: Merged uranium concentration (eU) map of Syria

Fig. 3: Radioactive anomalies in Syria: 1. Khneifis deposits; 2. Ash-Sharqueih

(Sawwaneh) deposits; 3. Wadi Gahdeir Al-Hamal deposits; 4. Al-Awabed
deposits within the northern Palmyrides and the newly discovered Al-
Awabed deposits; 5. Al-Abtar deposits; 6. Al-Bardeh phosphate beds; 7.
Jabal Abou Rejmeen and Wadi Sikkah phosphate beds; 8. As-Soukhneh
deposits; 9. Ash-Shomaryeh secondary uranium in fractured, silicified
limestone and fissured flint; 10. Ain Layloon glauconitic beds and Ain At-
Tineh phosphate beds; 11. Goranli Fukani deposit; 12. Jabal Abou Rabah
deposits; 13. Beer Abou Fayyad deposit; 14. Maaroneh deposits; 15. Fahad
Al-Massrab deposit; 16. Thlethawat Al-Jafeh deposit; 17. Wadi El-
Murabba'a deposit; 18. Abar Sijri deposit; 19. Kherbet Hanorah area; 20. Al-
Bayyarat area; 21. Kherbet As-Swwaneh area; 22. Wadi Ratkah; and 23. Al-
Bassit
Fig. 4: Locations of 748 rock samples collected for gamma-ray spectrometric analysis
in the laboratory
Fig. 5-a : The relation between eU and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples
Fig. 5-b : The relation between eTh and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples
Fig. 5-c : The relation between K% and HP for the 748 analyzed rock samples
Fig. 6-a: Log-Log plot for measured eU parameter on 748 rock samples in Syria
Fig. 6-b: Map for the measured eU on 748 rock samples in Syria; ranges are
according the results of the multi-fractal technique
Fig. 7-a: Log-log plot for computed HP parameter on 748 rock samples in Syria
Fig. 7-b: Map for the computed heat production (HP) on 748 rock samples in Syria;
ranges are according the results of the multi-fractal technique

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
________________________________________________________________________________
HIGH LIGHTS
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

748 Rock samples taken from Syrian territory have been analyzed by γ-ray
spectrometry technique to evaluate eU, eTh, and K%.

The analyzed eU, eTh, and K% are used to evaluate and map radioactive heat
production (HP) of Syria.

Fractal technique with concentration-number mode (C-N) and log-log plots are

PT
proposed and used to map eU, and HP of Syrian territory.

High values of HP are directly related to phosphatic deposits in Syria.
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