Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 112,
B10211,
19 PP., 2007
doi:10.1029/2006JB004817
Radon daily signals in the Elat Granite, southern Arava, Israel
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel
Geological Survey of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel
Department of Applied Mathematics, Faculty of Science, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
High time resolution monitoring of radon (=222Rn) in three boreholes, 4, 10 and 53 m deep, along a 0.6 km transect is carried out in massive granite in southern Israel. Three components of variation occur in the measured signal (MS) - seasonal radon (SR - periodic), multiday (MD), and daily radon (DR - periodic). Temporal variation of the components suggests an association between the overall level of the long-term variation and the amplitude of the daily variation. The daily mean level of radon and the daily standard deviation vary periodically throughout the year. Time offsets occur among time series of the MS and were investigated also for the MD and DR components, using consecutive 20-day intervals spanning +900 days. The resulting time series show that systematic time offsets occur, whereby the radon signal always occurs first at the easternmost site. The MD shows a gradually varying lag of 0–12 h, and the DR a stable 1–3 h lag. Spectral analysis shows that diurnal (24-h) and semidiurnal (12-h) periodic components characterize the DR. The amplitudes of these components exhibit regular temporal variation having a seasonal pattern. The ratios of co-occurring amplitudes of these components define a linear pattern indicating a fundamental statistical property in the frequency domain of the radon time series. The results indicate that unrecognized dynamic processes are driving the radon signal in the subsurface regime of the pluton, suggesting new prospects for radon behavior in the frame of interacting geodynamic (tectonic?) and Earth-Sun system related processes.
Received 15 October 2006; accepted 26 July 2007; published 30 October 2007.
Citation: (2007), Radon daily signals in the Elat Granite, southern Arava, Israel, J. Geophys. Res., 112, B10211, doi:10.1029/2006JB004817.
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