Abstract
Soil is the main reservoir of both natural and artificial radionuclides, which are transported to the human body through the food chain. Thus, assessment of the level of radioactivity in soil is of crucial importance. Artificial radionuclide concentrations in soil depend heavily on rainfall and weather conditions. In this study, the soil of the Ras Muneef area, which has the highest rainfall in Jordan, was investigated for its natural and anthropogenic radioactive content. The area was divided into four sectors and in each sector three locations were investigated depending on the land use: undisturbed, cultivated or residential. The depth profile of (137)Cs was investigated and found to depend on the land use. In the undisturbed soils, two types of depth profiles were identified: Gaussian and exponentially decreasing. The annual effective dose was found to range from 19.4 to 72.6 μSv, which falls within the worldwide ranges.