MAPPING INDICATIONS OF MINERAL CARRYING RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS USING REMOTE SENSING AND MEASUREMENT OF FERNS CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT METHOD IN MAMUJU, WEST SULAWESI

• Main Author: Rizky Ratnanta, Ibnu
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/69740
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

According to the National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) in 2019, Indonesia has a potential for uranium (U) of 81,090 tons and thorium (Th) 140,411 tons. This potential is a future energy source for Indonesia. One of the areas with a high radiation dose rate is Mamuju, West Sulawesi. The high dose rate was detected in the Adang volcanic rock unit. In general, the study area has a morphology that tends to be difficult to explore because it is a high and steep relief volcanic area. Therefore, a remote sensing method was used to carry out a radioactive mineral study. The data used in this study are Sentinel-2, DEMNAS, and ALOS PALSAR image data. The study methods are literature and regional geology study, remote sensing analysis, vegetation stress analysis, and then integrating these data to obtain the distribution of minerals carrying radioactive elements and explain their geological synthesis. Color composite image using R,G,B = ratio 4/2, 8A/11, 11/12 from Sentienl-2 produces a band ratio map that provides an overview of the distribution of iron oxide, ferromagnesian silicates, and hydroxyl clays minerals. High levels of U are scattered in leucite basalt rocks with low amounts of ferromagnesian silicate minerals. On the other hand, the distribution of Th is not affected by the presence of ferromagnesian silicate minerals. The presence of radioactive elements is the result of alteration of the Adang volcanic rock. In addition, chlorophyll spectra was analyzed on vegetation (Arabidopsis thaliana) exposed to radiation. These results are used as the basis for determining the point for the chlorophyll content of ferns in study area. Ground measurement of the chlorophyll content of ferns (Dryopteris marginalis and Nephrolepis exaltata) was used to identify the distribution of minerals carrying radioactive elements because it could represent the spatial conditions of vegetation in the study area. This finding agreed to the radioactivity conditions in study area that has been done previously. The integration of geological analysis, minerals with indication of radioactive elements, and vegetation stress can show the distribution of minerals carrying radioactive elements in the study area. The areas containing radioactive elements (U and Th) have been identified scatterly around the upstream of the Mamuju river which is the center of the Adang volcano, Botteng, and Ahu in Tapalang.