Volcanic activity at Mt. Karacadağ, SE Turkey, developed between ∼11 and ∼0.01 Ma. In this paper we investigate the oldest products (older than 2.6 Ma) that created a large volcanic plateau and a N-S aligned volcanic edifice in the form of a shield volcano. These igneous rocks are mildly alkaline to transitional olivine-clinopyroxene phyric basalts with minor hawaiites, basanites and very rare differentiated lithologies (mugearites and benmoreites). The poor correlation of major elements with MgO in these lavas is qualitatively consistent with polybaric depths of magma production, variable degrees of partial melting (from ∼2 to ∼10 %), heterogeneous mantle sources and differences in the fractionating crystal assemblage. Primitive mantle-normalized patterns resemble typical anorogenic magma compositions, with peaks at HFSE (Nb, Ta, Hf, Zr) and high HFSE/LILE ratios. REE contents are compatible with derivation of the basanites from a mixed garnet-spinel facies peridotite after ∼2 % partial melting. Alkali basalts are compatible with higher degrees of melting (between 5 and 10 %) from the same type of source. Initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios range from 0.70349 to 0.70522 while those of ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd range from 0.512853 to 0.512659. Early-stage lavas show higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and lower ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd compared to plateau-stage lavas. The Sr-Nd isotopic variations and their relation with major and trace elements cannot be explained by AFC-like (Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization) processes involving average crustal lithologies. More likely, the Sr-Nd isotopic ratios are related to the existence of heterogeneous mantle sources with only minor involvement of AFC-like processes. The Cenozoic lavas in a 200 × 800 km area between the Karasu Valley and the Syria-Iraq-Turkey border in south-eastern Anatolia form a distinct igneous province which can be characterised on the basis of Sr-isotope signatures. The lithospheric mantle beneath this area is characterized by anomalously enriched ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr compositions (up to 0.7055) as well as more isotopically depleted compositions (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr down to 0.7030).

Ceterach officinarum Willd is a plant widespread throughout Europe and used in southern Italy as a diuretic. Beliefs in the benefits of C. officinarum aqueous extract in the treatment of calcium oxalate kidney stones are widely held. Little is known, however, about the actual mechanism of its antilithiatic action. Our results in this in vitro study corroborate C. officinarum aqueous extract as a good source of antioxidants with a high antioxidant effects. Our results also demonstrate a major impact of C. officinarum aqueous extract on in vitro induced calcium oxalate crystallization kinetics and crystal morphology, showing its critical role in kidney stone formation and/or elimination. We show that progressively increasing doses of C. officinarum aqueous extract cause a sequence of effects. A powerful inhibitory action on calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) growth and aggregation is first observed. C. officinarum aqueous extract also appears highly effective in stimulating nucleation increasing the number and reducing the size of COM crystals, which become progressively thinner, rounded and concave in a dose-dependent manner. These shape-modified COM crystals are known to be less adherent to renal tubular cells and more easily excreted through the urinary tract preventing kidney stone formation. Further, C. officinarum aqueous extract promotes the formation of calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) rather than the monohydrate so that, at the highest concentrations used, only COD crystals are observed, in significant greater numbers with a clear reduction in their size, in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, AFM analyses allowed us to reveal the presence of C. officinarum component(s) on the surfaces of COD and modified COM crystals. The crystal surface adsorbed component(s) are shown to be similarly active as the total aqueous extract, suggesting a trigger factor which may direct crystal modification towards COD forms. In urolithiasis pathogenesis COD crystals are less dangerous than the COM forms due to their lower affinity for renal tubular cells. Our results are important in understanding the mechanisms which guide the modification induced by C. officinarum on the crystallization process. Based on these data, together with no adverse toxic effect being observed on the in vitro model of human intestinal enterocytes, C. officinarum aqueous extract could represent an attractive natural therapy for the treatment of urolithiasis.