Multiple Orbitoides d’Orbigny lineages in the Maastrichtian? Data from the Central Sakarya Basin (Turkey) and Arabian Platform successions (Southeastern Turkey and Oman)

The standard reconstruction of species of Orbitoides d’Orbigny into a single lineage during the late Santonian to the end of the Maastrichtian is based upon morphometric data from Western Europe. An irreversible increase in the size of the embryonic apparatus, and the formation of a greater number of epi-embryonic chamberlets (EPC) with time, is regarded as the main evolutionary trends used in species discrimination. However, data from Maastrichtian Orbitoides assemblages from Central Turkey and the Arabian Platform margin (Southeastern Turkey and Oman) are not consistent with this record. The Maastrichtian Besni Formation of the Arabian Platform margin in Southeastern Turkey yields invariably biconvex specimens, with small, tri- to quadrilocular embryons and a small number of EPC, comparable to late Campanian Orbitoides medius (d’Archiac). The upper Maastrichtian Taraklı Formation from the Sakarya Basin of Central Turkey contains two distinct, yet closely associated forms of Orbitoides, easily differentiated by both external and internal features. Flat to biconcave specimens possess a small, tri- to quadrilocular embryonic apparatus of Orbitoides medius-type and a small number of EPC, whereas biconvex specimens possess a large, predominantly bilocular embryonic apparatus, and were assigned to Orbitoides ex. interc. gruenbachensis Papp–apiculatus Schlumberger based on morphometry. The flat to biconcave specimens belong to a long overlooked species Orbitoides pamiri Meriç, originally described from the late Maastrichtian of the Tauride Mountains in SW Turkey. This species is herein interpreted to be an offshoot from the main Orbitoides lineage during the Maastrichtian, as are forms that we term Orbitoides ‘medius’, since they recall this species, yet are younger than normal occurrence with the accepted morphometrically defined lineage. The consistent correlation between the external and internal test features in O. pamiri implies that the shape of the test is not an ecophenotypic variation, but appears to be biologically controlled. We, therefore, postulate that more than one lineage of Orbitoides exists during the Maastrichtian, with a lineage that includes O. ‘medius’ and O. pamiri displaying retrograde evolutionary features

Effect of Hydrostatic Pressure on Thermodynamic Properties of NiTi Shape Memory Alloy

The effect of hydrostatic pressure and different heating/cooling rates on physical properties and microstructure of NiTi shape memory alloy has been investigated. The transformation temperatures and physical properties of the alloy have changed with applied pressure. It has been clearly seen from Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) that with the increase of applied pressure, while As and Af, and Mf transformation temperatures decrease, Ms value increase. Moreover, based on the increase of the pressure amount applied on the sample, there was an average increase of 48% for Gibbs free energy and 18% for elastic strain energy. Entropy of the alloys decreases depending on the increase in the amount of applied pressure for all heating rates. Depending on the amount of applied pressure on the sample, an interior strain of 0.177% at most was observed. With the increase of applied pressure on the sample, it was determined that activation energy increased. Additionally, the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images of the samples show that the grain sizes of the unpressured sample and the samples on which pressure is applied are between 40 and 120 μm, which was determined by Image Analysis Method

Comparison of experimental photonic and refractive index characteristics of the TBADN films with their theoretical counterparts

Photonic properties and refractive indexes of the TBADN films were investigated with various experimental and theoretical methods. The effects of the film thicknesses on the photonic properties of the TBADN films were examined. It was found that while the optical band gap of the TBADN film decreases with increasing film thickness, the refractive indexes exhibit a normal dispersion behavior for both experimental and theoretical techniques. This study shows that the most suitable optoelectronic parameters for optoelectronic devices can be achieved with film thicknesses. The TBADN molecule was found to have a lower refractive index in the chloroform solvent. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.Firat University Scientific Research Projects Management Unit Firat University Scientific Research Projects Management Unit: FF.16.04, FF.15.03 MŞÜ14-EMF-G03This study was supported by ‘The Management Unit of Scientific Research Projects of Muş Alparslan University (MUSBAP) under Project MŞÜ14-EMF-G03. We also acknowledge the support by Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit of Firat University (Project No: FF.16.04 and FF.15.03)