Gamma ray
Gamma ray logging is a method of measuring naturally occurring gamma radiation to characterize the rock or sediment in a borehole or drill hole. It is a wireline logging method used in mining, mineral exploration, water-well drilling, for formation evaluation in oil and gas well drilling and for other related purposes. Different types of rock emit different amounts and different spectra of natural gamma radiation. In particular, shales usually emit more gamma rays than other sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, gypsum, salt, coal, dolomite, or limestone because radioactive potassium is a common component in their clay content, and because the cation-exchange capacity of clay causes them to absorb uranium and thorium. This difference in radioactivity between shales and sandstones/carbonate rocks allows the gamma ray tool to distinguish between shales and non-shales. But it cannot distinguish between carbonates and sandstone as they both have similar deflections on the gamma ray log. Thus gamma ray logs cannot be said to make good lithological logs by themselves, but in practice, gamma ray logs are compared side-by-side with stratigraphic logs.