Geophysical natural γ-ray well logging and spectrometric signatures of south AL-Abter phosphatic deposits in Syria

A combination of several exploration techniques was carried out in AL-Abter region, aiming at outlining the main characteristics of the phosphatic layers in this region. The techniques used in this research are natural γ-ray well logging, gamma and alpha-spectrometry. It is shown that uranium concentrations in the samples taken from the wells studied vary between 42.8 and 112.5 ppm with a standard deviation of 15.2 ppm. The P2O5 content varies between 20.5% and 28.31% with a standard deviation of 3.11% and the radioactive intensities vary between 150 and 275 counts per second (cps) with a standard deviation of 31 cps. The ratio of 234U/238U in the analyzed samples indicates that the study region is in radioactive equilibrium. The affinity of uranium and P2O5 to some trace elements, such as V, Sr, Cu and Ni has been verified through studying the correlation matrix of these elements.