Natural radioactivity in the Vulcano island

The low gamma activity related to natural radioactive isotopes is of growing interest in many branches of geophysics. In the environmental field, the interest on such isotopes derives essentially from their degree of dangerousness. Such a danger is above all in relation with the amount of different polluting elements in the ecosystem, their average life and chemicalphysical properties. This yields, in fact, the degree of scattering, concentration and, above all, absorptivity of radionuclides from the living world. We present results of gamma-ray speetrometry (GRS) measurements carried out at key locations throughout the island of Vulcano (Aeolian are, Italy). The information summarised here focuses on primordial radioactivity due to the decay of unstable K-40 nuclide into stabIe argon, and the decay of Th-232 and U-238, through a series of intermediate radioactive products, into stabie isotopes of lead. In order to evaluate and interpret the distribution of these radionuclides, evidence was searched in petrographic studies. Other available environmental parameters are also reported.