The Research on the Influence of Degassing Temperatures of Water Samples on Radon Observations

Abstract

Radon is a naturally emitted gas that is observed in soils, subsoils, air, and all types of water. Because there is a statistically significant association observed between seismic activity and active concentration levels of radon readings, a dissolved form of radon in water near-fault locations such as wells or springs, has significant observational value. Furthermore, as the temperature of the water rises, the dissolved radon in the water might transfer to the air, a process known as degassing. Thus, radon measurements in all types of water such as groundwater, tap waters, and bottled drinking waters have been investigated by covering several aspects of the degassing process, namely, health issues, monitoring volcanic activities, and predicting seismic activities by employing various methods. In this paper, radon measurements of sampled waters removed from the well located at Yishui Seismic Station in China are utilized to monitor the degassing temperature and predict earthquakes. For this purpose, an experiment is devised to collect water samples manually. Then, the amount of radon dissolved in the water samples is examined to find a stable degassing temperature range at Yishui Seismic Station. An experimental setup is constructed to collect data for 20 days. The most important findings found regarding this research can be expressed as follows. (1) When the degassing temperature is observed to be higher than 5°C, the influence on radon value changes greatly. (2) The observations of the radon degassing temperatures in the Yishui well are found to be stable between 18°C and 23°C.