Abiogenic and organic components of modern terrestrial gastropodes of Azerbaijan: study of macro-, micro- and bioelements
1 - Aliyeva E.H., 2 - Isayev S.A.
1 - Institute of the Geology and Geophysics
of the Ministry of Science and Education Republic of Azerbaijan, H. Javid
avenue 119, AZ 1143, Baku, Azerbaijan E-mail: e_aliyeva@yahoo.com
2 - Baku State University Academic Zahid Khalilov str., 23, AZ 1148, Baku, Azerbaijan
As a result of field campaign in the Greater Caucasus the big faunal material has been collected from the southern and northern slopes of these mountains. The material included shells of both living and dead terrestrial gastropods, found mainly on the territory of Guba district – an administrative region within Azerbaijan, located on the northern slope of the Greater Caucasus. The collected shells were then compared to gastropods found in the Shamakhi, Sheki and Gakh regions in the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, and with shells from the Caspian Sea coast. In total, 70 samples of shells belonging to mollusk Helix lucorum L. have been analyzed.
The total
organic matter (TOM) and several bioelements - organic carbon, protein nitrogen
and phosphorus, have been determined in the shell material. Besides that macro-
and microelement distribution in skeleton remains of the collected mollusks has
been investigated. The results achieved allowed conclusion about the controling
factors on the composition of calcium carbonate and the organic component of
the shell material of studied gastropods.
Keywords: South-Eastern Caucasus, terrestrial gastropods, shells, organic matter, calcium carbonate, proteins, chemical elements