Preconcentration by Coprecipitation of Copper and Nickel with Mo(VI)/Triazole Derivative System and Their Determinations by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in Food and Water Samples

A new separation and preconcentration technique based on coprecipitation of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions by the aid of Mo(VI)/di‐tert‐butyl{methylenebis[5‐(chlorobenzyl)‐4H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐3,4‐diyl]}biscarbamate (BUMECTAC) precipitate has been established. The Mo(VI)/BUMECTAC precipitate was dissolved by concentrated HNO₃ and the solution was completed to 5.0 mL with distilled/deionized water. The levels of the analyte ions were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometer. The effects of experimental conditions like HNO₃ concentration, amount of BUMECTAC and Mo(VI), sample volume, etc. and also the influences of some foreign ions were investigated in detail on the quantitative recoveries of analyte ions. The preconcentration factors were found to be 40 for Cu(II) and 100 for Ni(II) ions. The detection limits for Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions based on 3σ (N:10) were 0.43 and 0.70 µg L^?1, respectively. The relative standard deviations were found to be lower than 4.0% for both analyte ions. The accuracy of the method was checked by spiked/recovery tests and the analysis of two certified reference materials (Environment Canada TM‐25.3 and CRM‐SA‐C Sandy Soil C). The procedure was successfully applied to sea water and stream water as liquid samples and baby food as solid sample in order to determine the levels of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions.     

The Palaeo-Tethyan suture: A line of demarcation between two fundamentally different architectural styles in the structure of Asia

Abstract The Palaeo-Tethyan suture separates regions characterized by two fundamentally different tectonic styles in the structure of the Tethysides. North of the suture in Iran, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tadjikistan, Kirgizstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and large parts of the Russian Federation and China, orogenic development is characterized by very large subduction-accretion complexes developed since the late Proterozoic. Magmatic arc axes migrated radially outwards from the 'Old Vertex of Eurasia' and consolidated the accretionary prisms into a 'basement complex' dominated by a pelitic composition. In such orogens, called the 'Turkic-type' after the dominant ethnic population of Central Asia, ophiolites are unreliable indicators of sutures, because they are present throughout the 'basement' as in-faulted shreds and rarely as nappes. By contrast, south of the Palaeo-Tethyan suture, orogeny was commonly characterized by a Sumatra- or Andean-type continental margin arc (e.g. the Transhimalaya arc) that in places became an island arc by back-arc basin rifting (e.g. the Black Sea behind the Rhodope-Pontide fragment) and later collided with an Atlantic- (as in the Himalaya) or California-type (as in the Alps) continental margin to create Alpine- or Himalayan-type orogenic belts. Turkic-type orogenic belts result from the exaggeration of the Himalayan-type as a result of the subduction of very large oceanic areas that contain great amounts of sediment. They contribute to the enlargement and also possibly the growth of the continental crust which has a composition more silicic than basalt. The Palaeo-Tethyan suture is thus a line across which the rate of continental enlargement by subduction-accretion changed dramatically.     

An improvement to linear‐elastic procedures for seismic performance assessment

An improved linear‐elastic analysis procedure is developed in this paper as a simple approximate method for displacement‐based seismic assessment of the existing buildings. The procedure is mainly based on reducing the stiffness of structural members that are expected to respond in the inelastic range in a single global iteration step. Modal spectral displacement demands are determined from the equal displacement rule. Response predictions obtained from the proposed procedure are evaluated comparatively by using the results of benchmark nonlinear response history analysis, and both the conventional and the multi‐mode pushover analyses. In comparative evaluations, a twelve‐story RC plane frame and a six‐story unsymmetrical‐plan RC frame are employed by using 91 ground motion components. It is observed that the proposed procedure estimates the flexural deformation demands in deformation‐controlled members and the shear forces in force‐controlled members with reasonable accuracy. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides in urban air of Konya, Turkey

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were determined in urban air samples of Konya, Turkey between August 2006 and May 2007. The concentrations of pollutants in both the gas and particulate phase were separately analysed. The average total (gas + particulate) concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and OCPs were determined as 206 ng m^− 3, 0.106 ng m^− 3, 4.78 ng m^− 3 respectively. All of the investigated target compounds were dominantly found in the gas phase except OCPs. Higher air concentrations of PAHs were found at winter season while the highest concentrations of PCBs were determined in September. The highest OCPs were detected in October and in March. In urban air of Konya, PCB 28 and PCB 52 congeners represent 46% and 35% of total PCBs while Phenanthrene, Fluoranthene, Pyrene accounted for 29%, 13%, 10% of total PAHs. HCH compounds (α + β + γ + δ-HCH), total DDTs (p,p′-DDE, p,p′-DDD, p,p′-DDT), Endosulfan compounds (Endosulfan I, Endosulfan II, Endosulfan sulfate) were dominantly determined as 30%, 21%, 20% of total OCPs respectively. Considering the relation between these compounds with temperature, there was no significant correlation observed. Despite banned/restricted use in Turkey, some OCPs were determined in urban air. These results demonstrated that they are either illegally being used in the course of agricultural activity and gardens in Konya or they are residues of past use in environment. According to these results, it can be suggested that Konya is an actively contributing region to persistent organic pollutants in Turkey.     

Hydrochemistry and environmental isotope study of the geothermal water around Beypazarı granitoids,Ankara, Turkey

Hydrochemical analysis results suggest four different water types: bicarbonate dominant water (facies-I), sulfate dominant cold brine water (facies-II), sodium-bicarbonate dominant thermal water and thermal and mineralized water (facies-III), and sulfate–chloride dominant thermal and mineralized water (facies-IV). The mineral content/salinity of the water is related to the ions that these waters dissolve from the minerals on the rocks during infiltration and circulation in the saturated zone. Gypsum cover units that exist on the granitoids in the region is the main factor for the ion increase in the facies III geothermal water similar to the cold brine water (facies II). Isotopic analyses indicate that the thermal springs (Dutlu bath spring, Aya? bath well, Çoban bath well and Kapullu bath spring) are of meteoric origin and receive recharge from precipitation in the Beypazar? granitoids and around gypseous formations with elevations of about 950–1,150 m. Karakaya bath well and Il?ca bath spring thermal water points are recharged from the Bilecik limestone hills, Tekke volcanics and ?ncedoruk Formations. Karakoca mineral spring of thermal and mineralized water is recharged from out of the study area. According to oxygen-18 (SO₄^2?) and sulfur-34 (SO₄^2?) contents, sulfate in water samples from Aya? and Dutlu resorts as well as Çoban bath is derived from the gypsum of Kirmir Formation as the primary source. Sulfates of the Kapullu bath water and Karakoca mineral water originate from secondary sources such as pyrite oxidation and bacteriological reduction.     

Novel applications of fluid inclusions and isotope geochemistry in unravelling the genesis of fossil travertine systems

The Denizli Basin is a fault‐bounded Neogene–Quaternary depression located in the Western Anatolian Extensional Province, Western Turkey. The basin is a unique geological site with abundant active and fossil (Quaternary) travertine and tufa deposits. Fluid inclusion microthermometry and isotopic analysis were applied to study the genesis of the Ball?k fossil travertine deposits, located in the south‐eastern part of the basin. Microthermometry on fluid inclusions indicates that the main travertine precipitating and cementing fluids are characterized by low salinity (<0·7 wt% NaCl equivalent) and variable temperatures that cluster at <50°C and ca 100°C. Fluids of meteoric origin have been heated by migration to the deeper subsurface, possibly in a local high geothermal gradient setting. A later uncommon cementation phase is related to a fluid with a significantly higher salinity (25·5 to 26·0 wt% bulk). The fluid obtained its salinity by interaction with Late Triassic evaporite layers. Strontium isotopes indicate that the parent carbonate source rock of the different travertine precipitates is very likely to be the Triassic limestone of the Lycian Nappes. Carbon isotopes suggest that the parent CO₂ gas originated from thermal decarbonation of the Lycian limestones with minor contributions of magmatic degassing and organic soil CO₂. Oxygen isotopes confirm the meteoric origin of the fluids and indicate disequilibrium precipitation because of evaporation and degassing. Results were integrated within the available geological data of the Denizli Basin in a generalized travertine precipitation model, which enhanced the understanding of fossil travertine systems. The study highlights the novel application of fluid inclusion research in unravelling the genesis of continental carbonates and provides several recommendations for hydrocarbon exploration in travertine‐bearing sedimentary basins. The findings suggest that travertine bodies and their parent carbonate source rocks have the potential to constitute interesting subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

Gold abundance and an aluminosilicate-rich alteration zone in the Val D'Or mining district, abitibi, Quebec: Examples of the fossil geothermal fields

Investigation of gold abundance in a gold-rich mining district by accurate analytical techniques (e.g., Instrumental Neutron Activation and/or Radiochemical Neutron Activation) shows that gold is anomalously distributed in some parts of the Val d'Or mining district of Quebec. It is possible to distinguish: (1) background values (1.4–3.5 ppb Au); (2) zones of primarily anomalous gold values around the Lamaque-Sigma mines (median: 15 ppb Au); (3) enrichment halos around gold orebodies (median: 70 ppb Au); (4) secondary gold enrichment in shear zones; and (5) high background values for the East Sullivan Monzonitic Stock. The Bourlamaque batholith is considered to be a gold-enriched intrusion because of areas (shear zones) that are anomalously enriched in gold (median: 10 ppb Au). It is concluded that there are auriferous geological units in the Val d'Or mining district, such as the Bourlamaque batholith and Val d'Or Formation. The latter contains the Lamaque-Sigma gold mines, representing 49.6% of the total gold production in the district. It is interpreted that the Val d'Or Formation is part of a central volcanic complex within an island arc system, that the centre of this complex is located in the main Lamaque plug, and that this environment may be compared to high-temperature active geothermal systems which are commonly responsible for the formation of epithermal gold deposits. The Lamaque-Sigma area is considered to be a fossil geothermal field, potentially explaining the anomalous gold values. In addition, a dumortierite-bearing, aluminosilicate-rich zone of hydrothermal alteration in the Val d'Or mining district is considered, as for other similar occurrences, to be the result of hydrothermal alteration within a geothermal field producing an Al- and Si-rich leached protholith which has subsequently been metamorphosed and deformed. A model is proposed for the formation of the gold deposits within the primary gold-rich environment, by mobilisation of gold in the volcanic rocks due to metamorphism and deformation. Therefore, two distinct and successive events are postulated: (1) gold-rich synvolcanic geothermal activity; and (2) late remobilisation from the host rocks, followed by deposition of gold ore within favourable structures.