Radiometric survey for exploration of hydrothermal alteration in a volcanic area

A radiometric survey on a sector of the Lipari volcanic island particularly affected by argillification due to hydrothermal processes was carried out. Preliminarily, on the basis of a wide set of field measurements over unaltered outcrops U and K distribution maps were obtained. The concentration of these radioelements increases with the degree of magma differentiation; the U and K content shows maxima (13.4 ppm and 3.7% on average, respectively) in the felsic materials, belonging to the youngest volcanic cycles, and minima (2.7 ppm and 2.0%) in the mafic rocks of the oldest cycles. The Th/U ratio insignificantly varies with magma differentiation and it equals 3.2. Laboratory measurements on volcanic products from altered zones were then used to identify radiometric anomalies related to hydrothermal processes. On the average, argillized rocks have radioactivity approximately five times lower than that measured in the unaltered volcanics. The Th/U ratio against U is rather uniform, whereas Th/K ratio is of the order of 3.6 in less altered rocks K > 0.2%) and it ranges from 7 to 11 in kaolin deposits having the largest depletion in potassium.