Reconnaissance study of macrofossils from the upper purus river - Western Amazônia.

Fossils of wood, bone and teeth found along the Upper Purus River οf Amazonia. were studied using conventional microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Mass spectometry was also used to investigate minor and trace element signatures of bone samples.The microsopy studies showed that there was little alteration of original textures. In the fossil wood samples, identified In thin section as tropical hardwood trees, the replacement of the original material with siderite suggests that fossilization occured in shallow sediments in which interstitial waters were saturated with respect to iron carbenate. In samples of both fossilized bone and wood, precipitation of secondary iron phases was commonly observed in cracks and voids. Other secondary phases Included silica, iron oxides, manganese carbonate. The intimate assοciation οf these secondary phases with the original biological structures could be evidence for a microbiological role in the formation of these phases. The similarity in rare earth element (REE) signatures for 2 fossil bone samples from different modern locations indicates their having shared similar diagenetic histories.The virtually complete preservation of original textures suggests that microscοpic studies could be useful in classifying fossil and even in identifying original materials. Rare carth signatures in fossilized bone may reflect ground water compositions at the time of fossilization.

Determinação de fósforo em aços por espectrometria de absorção atômica no forno de grafite

A method for the determination of phosphorus in steel samples by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, using the Zeeman effect background correction and the STPF conditions is proposed. The effect of iron (III) on the phosphorus signal was studied. It was verified, through the pyrolysis temperature curves, that iron (III) is an efficient chemical modifier, thermically stabilizing phosphorus up to 1400ºC. The phosphorus signal increases with the iron (III) concentration, but in the range, which corresponds to the usual concentrations of iron in the sample solutions, the increase is small. Phosphorus was determined in three standard reference materials, after its dissolution in a mixture of hydrochloric and perchloric acids in a PTFE bomb. The agreement with the certified concentration values was excellent. Iron (III) was added to the reference analytical solutions prepared in the blank of the dissolution, while the sample solutions were measured directly, since they already contained the modifier. The detection limit (k = 2) was 0.0042% of phosphorus in the steel sample.

Determinação de As em amostras orgânicas de interesse ambiental por espectrometria de absorção atômica com atomização eletrotérmica após combustão em bomba de O2

The toxicity of the major As species present in the environment justifies the effort for quantifying the element in environmental organic samples, which can vary from animal and vegetal tissues to coal and industrial residues. This paper comments about the applicability of the O2 bomb digestion, as a general procedure for all environmental organic materials. A rapid and straightforward method is suggested, which consists in burning the sample in the bomb at high O2 pressure, dissolving the vapours in diluted HNO3 and determining As in the resulting solution by atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization. The method was applied to certified materials and plant samples.

Fragmento de osso humano atuando como projétil secundário decorrente de explosão

We report a case of a secondary projectile emanated from a fractured human bone from a victim of a bomb explosion. We also refer to the potential of transmition of blood-borne or body fluid pathogens by this mechanism of injury.