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The Science of Nature -     

Tholeiitic basalts from spreading ocean ridges the growth of the oceanic crust

The oceanic earth's crust has mainly grown from magmatic productivity in spreading meridional ridges during the past 100–200 million years. The specific rock formed from these magmas is the ocean ridge tholeiitic basalt (ORT). From both melting experiments on peridotites and relative abundances of incompatible elements (La, Ce, Th, Rb etc.) the tholeiitic magmas can be explained as products of about 15% partial melting of abundant upper mantle rocks. A mobilization of incompatible elements very late in the mantle history has formed the different source rocks for magmas and ORT basalts depleted or slightly enriched in incompatible elements.     

Metabolism of DDT in Different Tissues of Young Rats

The bioconcentration and distribution pattern of p,p′-DDT 1,1,1-1trichloro-2,2-bis(2-chlorophenyl-4-chlorophenyl)-ethane] and its main metabolites (p,p′-DDD [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane] and p,p′-DDE [1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) in adipose tissue, liver, brain, kidney, thymus, and testis were examined in young rats after 10 days of intraperitoneal injection of 50 and 100 mg of p,p′-DDT/kg of body weight. Analyses were performed by high-resolution gas chromatography. p,p′-DDT was found to be accumulated in a dose-dependent manner with the highest concentration in adipose tissue. However, in brain, the accumulation of pesticide was low and remained unchanged at the higher dose. This difference may relate to the protective role of the blood-brain barrier, which limits the access of the xenobiotic in the cerebral compartment, and to the differential tissue lipid composition. Although tissues concentration of p,p′-DDE and p,p′-DDD correlated positively to total p,p′-DDT levels, the active role in detoxification of pollutants may explain why p,p′-DDD is more abundant in liver than in the rest of organs. On the contrary, in brain, the concentration of p,p′-DDE is higher than that of p,p′-DDD, suggesting that the metabolism of the parent insecticide proceeds via more than one pathway.