Uranium distribution in the Variscan Basement of Northeastern Sardinia

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed uranium distribution map of the Variscan Basement in Northeastern Sardinia using advanced geostatistical methods, offering insights into geological processes and potential radon risk areas.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of Kriging with Variance of Measurement Error for uranium mapping in complex geological terrains.

Findings

Uranium distribution correlates with specific geological features.

The model enhances understanding of the emplacement of Variscan magmatic processes.

Potential baseline for radon risk mapping in the region.

Abstract

We present a detailed map of the uranium distribution and its uncertainties in the Variscan Basement of Northeastern Sardinia (VBNS) at a scale 1:100,000. An area of 2100 km2 was investigated by means of 535 data points obtained from laboratory and in situ gamma-ray spectrometry measurements. These data volume corresponds to the highest sampling density of the European Variscides, aimed at studying the genetic processes of the upper crust potentially triggered by an enrichment of radiogenic heat-producing elements. For the first time the Kriging with Variance of Measurement Error method was used to assign weights to the input data which are based on the degree of confidence associated to the measurements obtained with different gamma-ray spectrometry techniques. A detailed tuning of the model parameters for the adopted Experimental Semi-Variogram led to identify a maximum distance of spatial variability coherent to the observed tendency of the experimental data. We demonstrate that the obtained uranium distribution in the VBNS, characterized by several calc-alkaline plutons emplaced within migmatitic massifs and amphibolite-facies metamorphic rocks, is an excellent benchmark for the study of 'hot' collisional chains. The uranium map of VBNS, and in particular the Arzachena minor pluton, confirms the emplacement model based on the recognition of the different petrological associations characterizing the Variscan magmatic processes in the Late Paleozoic. Furthermore, the presented model of the uranium content of the geological bedrock is a potential baseline for future mapping of radon-prone areas.