On the elemental contents of aspen (Populus tremula L.) leaves grown in the mineralization area

The aim of this study is to investigate the behavior of major and trace elements in aspen leaves grown in an intensely altered region from a geochemical point of view. In this context, major and trace element contents of aspen leaves (Populus tremula L.) grown on Gümüştuğ (Gümüşhane/Türkiye) antimony mineralization were investigated. For this purpose, 56 leaf samples were collected from the field by grid method and at intervals of approximately 50–60 m. After routine sample preparation processes, analyzes were carried out to determine the major and trace element concentrations. Subsequently, elemental concentrations of aspen leaves were evaluated by different statistical methods. As a result, major elements Ca, Mg, Na, K, Al and S concentrations were determined in the range of 2%–3%, 0.23%–0.85%, up to 0.02%, 0.79%–2.01%, 0.01%–0.03% and 0.13%–0.43%, respectively. The trace element concentrations were determined in the range of 127–339 ppm, 86.7–265.30 ppm, 0.1–1.21 ppm, 13.5–453.20 ppm, 6.0–12.0 ppm, 14.0–82.0 ppm and 0.1–0.60 ppm for Mn, Sr, La, Ba, Ti, B and Se, respectively. Considering that the samples were taken from aspen leaves grown on the antimony mineralization, the concentrations of the antimonite element were determined above the detection limit in only a few sampling points in the study. But the concentrations of B, Mn, Sr, La of aspen (Populus Tremula L.) leaves are remarkable.