Determination of elemental distribution of available volcanic tuff quarries in turkey

Volcanic tuff stones, which are consisted of consolidated volcanic ash, and large and small pieces ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption, and having a porous in different colours structure, are used as coating materials for insulation or ornamental purposes in the construction sectors. In this study, 70 volcanic tuff stone samples with different colors collected from 15 volcanic tuff quarries generally located Cappadocia region, which is a popular tourist destination, were subjected to analysis to determine the elemental distribution of these quarries. Elemental analyzes of the samples were performed using a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. As a results of analysis, a total of 27 elements (SiO2, CaO, TiO2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, MgO, Na2O, P2O5, V, Sc, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, La, Ce, Pb, Th and U) some of which are important in the view of environmental pollution and radiological evaluation were detected in the volcanic tuff stone samples. The highest average concentration of environmental polluting elements like V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Pb, Th and U was measured as 181.1 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO6), 200.7 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO8), 1247.0 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO13), 54.9 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO7), 115.7 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO8), 63.5 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO6), 128.2 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO12), 3502.0 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO12), 116.8 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO12), 111.9 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO12) and 47.2 mg/kg (quarry codded of TO12) mg/kg, respectively. The average concentrations of SiO2, Fe2O3, Na2O, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ba, La, Ce, Pb, Th and U measured for all quarries were found to be higher than the average concentration of the earth's crust.