Physico-mechanical properties and shielding efficiency in relation to mineralogical and geochemical compositions of Um Had granitoid, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt Mohammed A. Rashwan 1 , El Saeed R. Lasheen 2 *, Wael Abdelwahab 1 , Mokhles K. Azer 1 , Hesham M. H. Zakaly 3,4,5 *, Saad S. Alarifi 6 , Antoaneta Ene 7 * and Ismail A. Thabet 8 1 Geological Sciences Department, National Research Centre, Giza, Egypt, 2 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt, 3 Institute of Physics and Technology, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russia, 4 Computer Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Istinye University, Istanbul, Türkiye, 5 Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt, 6 Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 7 INPOLDE Research Center, Department of Chemistry, Physics and Environment, Faculty of Sciences and Environment, Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Galati, Romania, 8 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt The current work aims to describe the physico-mechanical characteristics and shielding efficiency with reference to the mineralogical and geochemical compositions of the Neoproterozoic Um Had composite granitoid pluton in order to deduce their favorability as dimension stones. The Um Had granitoid pluton has an elliptical outline with a mean diameter of about 10 km. This pluton is a composite (ranging from white to reddish pink color), hard, massive, and medium- to coarse-grained granitoid body. It is classified as syenogranite according to their modal and bulk chemical compositions. Geochemically, the granitoid pluton is a highly calc-alkaline, peraluminous granite, formed by low degree partial melting of tonalitic source rock in a post-collisional tectonic setting. The physico-mechanical properties of the granitoid pluton under study satisfy the requirements of dimension stone in terms of their bulk density (from 2561 to 2564 kg/m 3 ), and to some extent water absorption capacity (from 0.38% to 0.55%). However, their compressive strength values (50.4–113.4 MPa) do not achieve the minimum requirement for interior use and light duty exterior use. This study delves into the potential of some of our syenogranite samples (I, IIA, IIS, and 10) as gamma radiation shielding materials. We have assessed the mass attenuation coefficient (G MAC ), effective atomic number (Z eff ), exposure build-up factor (EBF), and energy absorption build-up factor (EABF) for each of these samples. The G MAC and Z eff calculations were performed using the Phy-X online software, across a photon energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. Our findings suggest an inverse relationship between photon energy and GMAC, with the highest values observed for the (I) granite sample (~18). This study shows the promising radiation shielding capacity of our samples. The insights derived from G MAC ,Z eff , EBF, and EABF can serve as a guide for the development of effective, naturally sourced radiation shielding materials. OPEN ACCESS EDITED BY Ahmed M. Eldosouky, Suez University, Egypt REVIEWED BY David R. Lentz, University of New Brunswick Fredericton, Canada Saumitra Kumar Misra, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa *CORRESPONDENCE El Saeed R. Lasheen, elsaeedlasheen@azhar.edu.eg Hesham M. H. Zakaly, h.m.zakaly@gmail.com Antoaneta Ene, antoaneta.ene@ugal.ro RECEIVED 24 May 2023 ACCEPTED 10 August 2023 PUBLISHED 25 August 2023 CITATION Rashwan MA, Lasheen ESR, Abdelwahab W, Azer MK, Zakaly HMH, Alarifi SS, Ene A and Thabet IA (2023), Physico-mechanical properties and shielding efficiency in relation to mineralogical and geochemical compositions of Um Had granitoid, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt. Front. Earth Sci. 11:1228489. doi: 10.3389/feart.2023.1228489 COPYRIGHT © 2023 Rashwan, Lasheen, Abdelwahab, Azer, Zakaly, Alarifi, Ene and Thabet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Frontiers in Earth Science frontiersin.org 01 TYPE Original Research PUBLISHED 25 August 2023 DOI 10.3389/feart.2023.1228489