Analysis of photon interaction parameters as function of soil composition

In the present work the total mass attenuation coefficients (mu/rho) for some soils collected from the Southeast and South of Brazil were measured at 59.5 (Am-241) and 661.6 keV (Cs-137) photon energies. The experimental values of the soils mu/rho were compared with XCOM program calculations and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations. Total atomic and electronic cross-sections, effective atomic and electron numbers of all soil samples were calculated in a wide energy range (1 keV-100 GeV). The values of these parameters have been found to vary with photon energy and chemical composition of the soil. The variations of these parameters with energy are shown graphically for total photon interactions. The results showed that loamy soils have low photon attenuation parameters than clayey ones for the region of 59.5 keV.