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Epithermal neutron activation analysis of major and trace elements in Red Sea scleractinian corals

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Abstract

Five corals belonging to common scleractinian reef-building species, and collected from Gulf of Suez, Egypt were subjected to neutron activation analysis. The content of 26 elements: Na, Mg, Cl, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, As, Br, Rb, Sr, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Gd, Hf, Th, and U was experimentally determined. Ca and Sr have the highest content i.e. 38.4–39.5% and 0.73–0.78% respectively while, the content of all other elements was within the ranges reported for the worldwide corals. For a better understanding of the coral exoskeleton elemental content, the partition coefficient calculated for all determined elements showed a wide range of values varying from 2 × 10−4 in the case of Cl to 2 × 103 for Ce and other insoluble elements. Although all corals were collected in the vicinity of the Port Suez no traces of anthropogenic contamination were evidenced.

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Acknowledgements

The project was partially accomplished within the protocol no 4322-4-14/16 between the University of Bucharest and the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research Dubna Russian Federation. We would wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful remarks and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Cairo University, Giza, Giza Governorate, Egypt

    Safa Y. Abdo & Mohamed M. Sherif

  2. Department of Structure of Matter, Earth and Atmospheric Physics, and Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Bucharest, 405, Atomistilor str,, PO Box MG-11, 077125, Magurele, Ilfov, Romania

    Octavian G. Duliu

  3. Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, 6, Joliot Curie str,, Dubna, Russian Federation, 141980

    Octavian G. Duliu, Inga Zinicovscaia & Marina V. Frontasyeva

  4. Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, 30, Reactorului str,, PO Box MG-06, 077125, Măgurele, Ilfov, Romania

    Inga Zinicovscaia

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  1. Safa Y. Abdo
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Correspondence to Octavian G. Duliu.

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Abdo, S.Y., Duliu, O.G., Zinicovscaia, I. et al. Epithermal neutron activation analysis of major and trace elements in Red Sea scleractinian corals. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 314, 1445–1452 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5511-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-017-5511-8

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