Spectroscopic and radiation shielding features of Nemrut, Pasinler, Sarikamis and Ikizdere obsidians in Turkey: Experimental and theoretical study

Naturally occurring volcanic glassy rocks, obsidians, are widely used for medical tools and have great interests in alternative medicine, auxiliary therapy, spa, cosmetics and jewellery fields. In this paper, we studied the spectroscopic and radiation shielding properties of obsidian samples collected from four main volcanic regions, named as Nemrut Mountain, Erzurum-Pasinler, Kars-Sarikamis, and Rize-Ikizdere, eastern Turkey. In this regard, important and effective spectroscopic techniques; Electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, Energy dispersive spectroscopy and Scanning electron microscopy were used to give information about structural, magnetic and morphological features of the obsidians. Additionaly, radiation shielding potentials of the obsidians were evaluated by determination of mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, and buildup factors. Recently developed EpiXS code was used for obtaining radiation shielding parameters. It is concluded that the studied obsidians can be considered as radiation shielding materials. By this comprehensive study, both spectroscopic and shielding properties of obsidian samples from different volcanic regions in Turkey are presented and compared.