TRACE ELEMENTAL MAPPING OF CAMEL TEETH AND BONES FROM SUDAN USING NUCLEAR MICROPROBE TECHNIQUE

摘要

Geographically, the camels are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical dry zones of Sudanese central, northern and western regions. The camel embodies one of the essential elements of the culture and agriculture of these regions. Camel is the ideal domestic animal in deserts with long, dry hot periods of eight months or more and scarce. It is used for transporting goods and people as well as for providing milk. Milk is often the only regular food source for its owners its milk is very healthy because its mostly browsing on the ornamental and medicinal species. The camel's meat, wool and leather are also widely utilized: In some part of East Africa, the animal is bled regularly and its blood consumed fresh or mixed with milk. The camel is universally highly valued and provides social standing for its owner.Teeth and bones of different age camels from Sudan were studied to determine the concentration of trace elements (TE) and mapping by nuclear microprobe (NMP). Interest was focused on determining levels of variability in elemental concentration of trace elements such as Na, P, Cl, Ca, Fe, Ni,Cu, Co and Zn by Micro-Particle Induced X-ray Emission (μPIXE). Analysis were done using 1.5 MeV protons GUIX and GeoPIXEII software were used.