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Microscopy and spectroscopy with X-rays for studies in the environmental sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

J. Thieme,
S.-C. Gleber,
P. Guttmann,
J. Prietzel,
I. McNulty and
J. Coates
J. Thieme*
Affiliation:
Institut fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany
S.-C. Gleber
Affiliation:
Institut fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Goettingen, Germany
P. Guttmann
Affiliation:
Institute fuer Roentgenphysik, Universitaet Goettingen, c/o BESSY GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany
J. Prietzel
Affiliation:
Lehrstuhl fuer Bodenkunde, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, D-85350 Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
I. McNulty
Affiliation:
Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA
J. Coates
Affiliation:
Department for Plant and Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, 271 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
*
*E-mail: jthieme@gwdg.de
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Abstract

X-ray spectromicroscopy is a powerful tool for addressing key questions in the environmental sciences due to its high spectral and spatial resolution. It has been used successfully for material research, biology and environmental studies, e.g. in the form of μ-X-ray fluorescence and spectromicroscopy with a spatial resolution of <100 nm. With the combination of high-resolution microscopy and spectroscopy it is possible to determine elemental composition as well as chemical speciation, and also identify trace elements to nm-resolution. Samples from soils and groundwater aquifers have been imaged to visualize the appearance of structures on the nm- and μm-scale. The effectof changing chemical conditions in an aqueous environment on the appearance of these structures has been imaged and evaluated. Clay dispersions, microhabitats and morphological effects of biologically-induced redox changes of humic substances have been imaged tomographically, conveying a detailed threedimensional presentation of the specimen structure. Using the spectromicroscopy potential, the distribution of organic and inorganic components, as well as different inorganic components, has been studied. Spectra were analysed for major chemical constituents and were used, for example, to assess differentsulphur species in an entire soil profile.

Keywords

X-ray spectromicroscopyenvironmental sciencesoilstomography

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 72 , Issue 1 , February 2008, pp. 211 - 216
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2008

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