Indirect estimation of the swelling percent and a new classification of soils depending on liquid limit and cation exchange capacity

This paper describes the dependence of the swell percent (%S) on the soil properties, namely, liquid limit (LL) and cation exchange capacity (CEC). This study provides the statistical model that can be used to obtain an indirect estimation of %S due to CEC and LL. According to the coefficient of correlation (R² = 0.91), VAF (91.5%) and RMSE (0.727) indices, multiple regression model has a high prediction performance. Although CEC values play an important role in the swelling behaviour of clayey soils, there is no universally accepted simple quantitative swelling potential classification at present. In this paper, a new swelling potential classification and graph, having four respective zones indicating the low, moderate, high, very high swelling potential, was also developed and proposed. This classification will serve to the engineers in order to evaluate the expansivity of the soils, in practice.     

Biosorption of mercury(II), cadmium(II) and lead(II) ions from aqueous system by microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii immobilized in alginate beads

The potential use of the immobilized microalgae (in Ca-alginate) of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to remove Hg(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions from aqueous solutions was evaluated using bare Ca-alginate bead as a control system. Ca-alginate beads containing immobilized microalgae were incubated for the uniform growth at 22 °C for 5 days. Effects of pH, temperature, initial concentration of metal ions and biosorbent dosages on the adsorption of Hg(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions were studied. Adsorption of Hg(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions on the immobilized microalgae showed highest values at around pH 5.0 to 6.0. The adsorption equilibrium was represented with Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. The adsorption of these ions on the immobilized microalgae followed second-order kinetics and equilibrium was established in about 60 min. The temperature change in the range of 5–40 °C did not affect the adsorption capacities of the immobilized microalgae. The immobilized-algal systems can be regenerated using 2 M NaCl for Hg(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) ions.     

Tethyan evolution of Turkey: A plate tectonic approach

The Tethyan evolution of Turkey may be divided into two main phases, namely a Palaeo-Tethyan and a Neo-Tethyan, although they partly overlap in time. The Palaeo-Tethyan evolution was governed by the main south-dipping (present geographic orientation) subduction zone of Palaeo-Tethys beneath northern Turkey during the Permo-Liassic interval. During the Permian the entire present area of Turkey constituted a part of the northern margin of Gondwana-Land. A marginal basin opened above the subduction zone and disrupted this margin during the early Triassic. In this paper it is called the Karakaya marginal sea, which was already closed by earliest Jurassic times because early Jurassic sediments unconformably overlie its deformed lithologies. The present eastern Mediterranean and its easterly continuation into the Bitlis and Zagros oceans began opening mainly during the Carnian—Norian interval. This opening marked the birth of Neo-Tethys behind the Cimmerian continent which, at that time, started to separate from northern Gondwana-Land. During the early Jurassic the Cimmerian continent internally disintegrated behind the Palaeo-Tethyan arc constituting its northern margin and gave birth to the northern branch of Neo-Tethys. The northern branch of Neo-Tethys included the Intra-Pontide, Izmir—Ankara, and the Inner Tauride oceans. With the closure of Palaeo-Tethys during the medial Jurassic only two oceanic areas were left in Turkey: the multi-armed northern and the relatively simpler southern branches of Neo-Tethys. The northern branch separated the Anatolide—Tauride platform with its long appendage, the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment from Eurasia, whereas the southern one separated them from the main body of Gondwana-Land. The Intra-Pontide and the Izmir—Ankara oceans isolated a small Sakarya continent within the northern branch, which may represent an easterly continuation of the Paikon Ridge of the Vardar Zone in Macedonia. The Anatolide-Tauride platform itself constituted the easterly continuation of the Apulian platform that had remained attached to Africa through Sicily. The Neo-Tethyan oceans reached their maximum size during the early Cretaceous in Turkey and their contraction began during the early late Cretaceous. Both oceans were eliminated mainly by north-dipping subduction, beneath the Eurasian, Sakaryan, and the Anatolide- Tauride margins. Subduction beneath the Eurasian margin formed a marginal basin, the present Black Sea and its westerly prolongation into the Srednogorie province of the Balkanides, during the medial to late Cretaceous. This resulted in the isolation of a Rhodope—Pontide fragment (essentially an island arc) south of the southern margin of Eurasia. Late Cretaceous is also a time of widespread ophiolite obduction in Turkey, when the Bozkir ophiolite nappe was obducted onto the northern margin of the Anatolide—Tauride platform. Two other ophiolite nappes were emplaced onto the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment and onto the northern margin of the Arabian platform respectively. This last event occurred as a result of the collision of the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment with Arabia. Shortly after this collision during the Campanian—Maastrichtian, a subduction zone began consuming the floor of the Inner Tauride ocean just to the north of the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment producing the arc lithologies of the Yüksekova complex. During the Maastrichtian—Middle Eocene interval a marginal basin complex, the Maden and the Çüngüş basins began opening above this subduction zone, disrupting the ophiolite-laden Bitlis—Pötürge fragment. The Anatolide-Tauride platform collided with the Pontide arc system (Rhodope—Pontide fragment plus the Sakarya continent that collided with the former during the latest Cretaceous along the Intra Pontide suture) during the early to late Eocene interval. This collision resulted in the large-scale south-vergent internal imbrication of the platform that produced the far travelled nappe systems of the Taurides, and buried beneath these, the metamorphic axis of Anatolia, the Anatolides. The Maden basin closed during the early late Eocene by north-dipping subduction, synthetic to the Inner-Tauride subduction zone that had switched from south-dipping subduction beneath the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment to north dipping subduction beneath the Anatolide—Tauride platform during the later Palaeocene. Finally, the terminal collision of Arabia with Eurasia in eastern Turkey eliminated the Çüngüş basin as well and created the present tectonic regime of Turkey by pushing a considerable piece of it eastwards along the two newly-generated transform faults, namely those of North and East Anatolia. Much of the present eastern Anatolia is underlain by an extensive mélange prism that accumulated during the late Cretaceous—late Eocene interval north and east of the Bitlis—Pötürge fragment.     

Potential pollution risk in natural environment of golf courses: an example from Rusovce (Slovakia)

The objective of the article presented herein is to highlight the specific issue of the protection of water sources in the vicinity of golf courses. Currently we have experienced the construction of a large number of golf courses, which are often found in areas where the protection of natural groundwater resources is needed. In this article, limit conditions are specified, which could be used in construction of other golf courses in the world, where there is a potential threat of contamination of groundwater resources. The issue is demonstrated on a case study in the area of a water resource, Rusovce. A major concern of golf courses is the fact that in an apparently clean environment of these anthropogenic structures contamination occurs, resulting from the maintenance, and the current legislation does not address this specific group of areas. These are particularly dangerous substances derived from fertilizer and turf protection, in particular the use of pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, acaricides, e.g. nematocides, and related products, such as growth regulators used for plant protection). The results of the modelling at the water source, Rusovce, show that the combination of negative factors (for example, the groundwater table level close to the surface along with extremely high precipitation totals or the areas flooding and the lack of a golf course bedrock sealing) the limit value of 0.100 μg/l of pesticides concentration in groundwater was exceeded up to 0.880 μg/l. Similarly, such excess may occur in the case of an emergency situation (for example, the spilling of the barrel with the pesticide), where the concentration of pesticides in groundwater may be increased up to 0.874 μg/l in standard conditions (without flooding with an average depth of groundwater table level beneath the terrain). But even under a standard level of security for the establishment and operation of a golf course and standard procedures for the maintenance of the lawn, the concentration of pesticides in the wells reached 0.0001 μg/l.     

Correlation between Cerchar abrasivity index,rock properties,and drill bit lifetime

The Cerchar abrasivity index (CAI) is one of the most widely known index method for identification of rock abrasivity. It is a simple and fast testing method providing reliable information on rock abrasiveness. In this study, the relationships between the CAI and some rock properties such as uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), point load strength, Brazilian tensile strength and Schmidt rebound hardness, and equivalent quartz content (EQC) are examined. The relationships between the CAI and drill bit lifetime is also investigated and the type of drill bit wear observed is mentioned. Additionally, the CAI is modeled using simple and multiple linear regression analysis based on the rock properties. Drill bit lifetime is also modeled based on the CAI. The results show that the CAI increases with the increase of the UCS, point load strength, Brazilian tensile strength, L-type and N-type Schmidt rebound hardness, and the EQC. It is concluded that the higher and the lower bit lifetime are obtained for marl and andesitic-basaltic formation, respectively. Moreover, flushing holes, inserted button, button removal, and failures of button on the bits are determined as the type of drill bit wear. The modeling results show that the models based on the UCS and the EQC give the better forecasting performances for the CAI.