Seasonal variations in soil radon emanation: long-term continuous monitoring in light of seismicity

Soil gas radon release patterns have been monitored continuously for more than 3 years in the Eastern Mediterranean Province (EMP) (Southern Turkey), alongside regional seismic events, providing a multidisciplinary approach. In the period from January 2008 to January 2011, 14 earthquakes M _L ≥4 occurred in the study area. By monitoring the sites for more than 3 years, the site-characteristic patterns of soil radon emanation of each site have become evident. Radon emanation data show seasonal (semi-annual) variation characteristics; high soil radon values are between May and October and low soil radon values are between November and April. With available rainfall data, the soil gas radon data can be more reliably evaluated. It is shown in this paper that if radon emanation data are available over sufficiently long periods of time and baseline data (and their seasonal variations) are known with certainty for each monitoring site, then the observation of positive anomalies might provide a correlation or connection to seismic activity.     

Diagenetic and very low-grade metamorphic characteristics of the Paleozoic series of the Istanbul Terrane (NW Turkey)

The Istanbul Terrane along the Black Sea coast in NW Anatolia, is a Gondwana-derived continental microplate, comprising a well-developed Paleozoic succession. Petrographic and X-ray diffraction studies were performed on rock samples from measured sections throughout Ordovician?CCarboniferous sedimentary units. Diagenetic-very low-grade metamorphic clastic (shale/mudstone, siltstone, sandstone) and calcareous rocks (limestone, dolomite) mainly contain phyllosilicates, quartz, feldspar, calcite, dolomite, hematite and goethite minerals. Phyllosilicates are primarily represented by illite, chlorite, mixed-layered chlorite?Cvermiculite (C?CV), chlorite?Csmectite (C?CS) and illite?Cchlorite (I?CC). Feldspar is commonly present in the Ordovician and Carboniferous units, whereas calcite and dolomite are abundant in the Silurian and Devonian sediments. The most important phyllosilicate assemblage is illite?+?chlorite?+?I?CC?+?C?CV?+?C?CS. Illite and chlorite-bearing mixed layer clays are found in all units. The amounts of illites increase in the upper parts of the Silurian series and the lower parts of the Devonian series, whereas chlorite and chlorite-bearing mixed-layers are dominant in the Ordovician and Carboniferous units. Kübler index values of illites reflect high-grade anchimetamorphism for the Early Ordovician rocks, low-grade metamorphism to high-grade diagenesis for the Middle Ordovician?CEarly Silurian rocks and high-grade diagenesis for the Late Silurian?CDevonian units. The K-white micas b cell dimensions indicate intermediate pressure conditions in the Early Ordovician?CEarly Silurian units, but lower pressure conditions in the Middle Silurian?CDevonian units. Illites are composed of 2M ₁?±?1M _d polytypes in all units, except for Upper Ordovician?CLower Silurian units which involve 1M polytype in addition to 2M ₁ and 1M _d polytypes. The 2M ₁/(2M ₁?+?1Md) ratios rise from Devonian to Ordovician together with the increasing diagenetic-metamorphic grade. Chlorites have IIb polytype. In general, crystal-chemical data of clay minerals in the Istanbul Terrane show a gradual increase in the diagenetic/metamorphic grade together with increasing depth. The new data presented in this work indicate that the diagenetic/metamorphic grade of the Paleozoic of the Istanbul Terrane is higher than that of the neighboring Zonguldak Terrane and generated by a single metamorphic phase developed at the end of Carboniferous. This finding contrasts with the metamorphic history of the neighboring Zonguldak Terrane that displays a distinct Early Devonian unconformity and a thermal event.     

3D analysis of kinematic behavior of granular materials in triaxial testing using DEM with flexible membrane boundary

This paper describes the constitutive behavior and particle-scale kinematics of granular materials in three-dimensional (3D) axisymmetric triaxial testing using discrete element method (DEM). PFC3D code was used to run the DEM simulations using a flexible membrane boundary model consisting of spherical particles linked through flexible contact bonds. The overall deformation behavior of the specimen was then compared with the specimen with rigid boundary and experimental measurements. Computed tomography was used to track the evolution of particle translation and rotation within a laboratory triaxial specimen in 3D. The DEM model of the flexible membrane specimen successfully predicted the stress–strain behavior when compared with laboratory experiment results at different confining pressures. The DEM results showed that the rigid specimen applies a uniform deformation and leads to non-uniformities in the confining stress along the particle-boundary interface in the lateral direction. In contrast, the flexible specimen better replicates the uniformly applied confining stress of a laboratory triaxial experiment. The 3D DEM simulations of the specimen with flexible membrane overpredicted particle translation and rotation in all directions when compared to a laboratory triaxial specimen. The difference between the particle translation and rotation distributions of DEM specimens with rigid and flexible membrane is almost negligible. The DEM specimen with flexible membrane produces a better prediction of the macroscopic stress–strain behavior and deformation characteristics of granular materials in 3D DEM simulations when compared to a specimen with rigid membrane. Comparing macroscale response and particle-scale kinematics between triaxial simulation results of rigid versus flexible membrane demonstrated the significant influence of boundary effects on the constitutive behavior of granular materials.     

Deciphering factors controlling trace element distribution in the soils of Karaduvar industrial-agricultural area (Mersin,SE Turkey)

In this study, 30 topsoil samples were collected from Karaduvar area (Mersin, SE Turkey) where at present various industrial and agricultural activities are occurring. Using a five-step ultrasound-assisted sequential extraction (UASE) procedure, trace elements in soil samples were partitioned into the following: (1) soluble-exchangeable; (2) bound to carbonates; (3) bound to Fe- and Mn-oxides; (4) bound to organic matter and sulfide compounds, and (5) residual fraction. Concentrations of 11 trace elements in the extracts were determined using ICP-MS. Total concentrations ranged between (in mg kg⁻¹) 3.35 and 7.26 for As; 1.18 and 3.96 for Cd; 10.76 and 20.26 for Co; 37.99 and 63.48 for Cr; 18.55 and 243.1 for Cu; 338.7 and 565.6 for Mn; 4.42 and 6.44 for Mo; 148 and 279.3 for Ni; 10.12 and 73.71 for Pb; 17.93 and 36.55 for V, and 25.46 and 331.7 for Zn. Factor analysis was applied to dataset in order to discriminate between natural and anthropogenic pollution sources and factors controlling the spatial distribution of trace elements in the area. Results suggest that distributions of Co, Cr, Mn, and Ni are mainly controlled by lithological factors, whereas, distributions of Cu, Pb, and Zn can be attributed to agricultural activities such as pesticide/herbicide use and fertilizer application, as well as irrigation with petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated groundwater. Highest concentrations of Cd and Mo are generally observed around the diesel-fired thermal power plant and ATAŞ refinery. Highest concentrations of As and V are generally observed at the NW sector of the area; however, no definitive source can be designated for both of these elements.     

K-Ar dating,whole-rock and Sr-Nd isotope geochemistry of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks around the Gümüşhane area: implications for post-collisional volcanism in the Eastern Pontides,Northeast Turkey

Volcanic rocks from the Gümü?hane area in the southern part of the Eastern Pontides (NE Turkey) consist mainly of andesitic lava flows associated with tuffs, and rare basaltic dykes. The K-Ar whole-rock dating of these rocks range from 37.62?±?3.33 Ma (Middle Eocene) to 30.02?±?2.84 Ma (Early Oligocene) for the andesitic lava flows, but are 15.80?±?1.71 Ma (Middle Miocene) for the basaltic dykes. Petrochemically, the volcanic rocks are dominantly medium-K calc-alkaline in composition and show enrichment of large ion lithophile elements, as well as depletion of high field strength elements, thus revealing that volcanic rocks evolved from a parental magmas derived from an enriched mantle source. Chondrite-normalized rare-earth element patterns of the volcanic rocks are concave upwards with low- to-medium enrichment (La_CN/Lu_CN?=?3.39 to 12.56), thereby revealing clinopyroxene- and hornblende-dominated fractionations for andesitic-basaltic rocks and tuffs, respectively. The volcanic rocks have low initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.70464 to 0.70494) and εNd_(i) values (+1.11 to +3.08), with Nd-model ages (T_DM) of 0.68 to 1.02 Ga, suggesting an enriched lithospheric mantle source of Proterozoic age. Trace element and isotopic data, as well as the modelling results, show that fractional crystallization and minor assimilation played an important role in the evolution of the volcanic rocks studied. The Eocene to Miocene volcanism in the region has resulted from lithospheric delamination and the associated convective thinning of the mantle, which led to the partial melting of the subduction-metasomatized lithospheric mantle.     

Prediction of soil temperature using regression and artificial neural network models

In this study, monthly soil temperature was modeled by linear regression (LR), nonlinear regression (NLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods. The soil temperature and other meteorological parameters, which have been taken from Adana meteorological station, were observed between the years of 2000 and 2007 by the Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS). The soil temperatures were measured at depths of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 cm below the ground level. A three-layer feed-forward ANN structure was constructed and a back-propagation algorithm was used for the training of ANNs. In order to get a successful simulation, the correlation coefficients between all of the meteorological variables (soil temperature, atmospheric temperature, atmospheric pressure, relative humidity, wind speed, rainfall, global solar radiation and sunshine duration) were calculated taking them two by two. First, all independent variables were split into two time periods such as cold and warm seasons. They were added to the enter regression model. Then, the method of stepwise multiple regression was applied for the selection of the “best” regression equation (model). Thus, the best independent variables were selected for the LR and NLR models and they were also used in the input layer of the ANN method. Results of these methods were compared to each other. Finally, the ANN method was found to provide better performance than the LR and NLR methods.     

Applications on agricultural and forest waste adsorbents for the removal of lead (II) from contaminated waters

At present, there is growing interest in using low cost, commercially available materials for the adsorption of heavy metals. The major advantages of adsorption technologies are its effectiveness in reducing the concentration of heavy metal ions to very low levels and the use of inexpensive adsorbent materials. In this review, agricultural and forest waste adsorbents were used to remove Pb²⁺ ions in wastewater treatment, and their technical feasibilities were reviewed in studies mainly from 2000 to 2010. They all were compared with each other by metal binding capacities, metal removal performances, sorbent dose, optimum pH, temperature, initial concentration and contact time. Although commercial activated carbon is widely used in wastewater treatment applications, it has high costs. The use of agricultural by-products as adsorbent material to purify heavy metal contaminated water has become increasingly popular through the past decade because they are less expensive, biodegradable, abundant and efficient. Instead of activated carbon, this study was focused on the inexpensive materials such as agricultural and forest waste. It was shown that these alternative adsorbents had sufficient binding capacity to remove Pb²⁺ ions from wastewater.