Applications of surface analytical techniques in Earth Sciences

Qian, Gujie; Li, Yubiao; Gerson, Andrea R.

doi:10.1016/j.surfrep.2015.02.001

Cited by 41 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 349 publications

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“…Due to the complex mineralogy and significant amounts of amorphous phases present within the natural waste materials (as determined from XRD analysis), quantitative evaluation of minerals (QEM-SCAN; [16]) was carried out to gain further mineralogical information for comparison with the quantitative XRD mineralogy. Samples for QEM-SCAN analysis (by Bureau Veritas, Adelaide, Australia) were dry-ground to <75 µm and were made into cylindrical epoxy resin blocks (diameter: ≈2.5 cm; thicknesses: ≈8 mm) with the sample surface sides polished.…”

Section: Instrumental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for Reduced Acid and Metalliferous Drainage by Pyrite Surface Passivation

Qian

Schumann²,

et al. 2017

Minerals

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Acid and metalliferous drainage (AMD) is broadly accepted to be a major global environmental problem facing the mining industry, requiring expensive management and mitigation. A series of laboratory-scale kinetic leach column (KLC) experiments, using both synthetic and natural mine wastes, were carried out to test the efficacy of our pyrite passivation strategy (developed from previous research) for robust and sustainable AMD management. For the synthetic waste KLC tests, initial treatment with lime-saturated water was found to be of paramount importance for maintaining long-term circum-neutral pH, favourable for the formation and preservation of the pyrite surface passivating layer and reduced acid generation rate. Following the initial lime-saturated water treatment, minimal additional alkalinity (calcite-saturated water) was required to maintain circum-neutral pH for the maintenance of pyrite surface passivation. KLC tests examining natural potentially acid forming (PAF) waste, with much greater peak acidity than that of the synthetic waste, blended with lime (≈2 wt %) with and without natural non-acid-forming (NAF) waste covers, were carried out. The addition of lime and use of NAF covers maintained circum-neutral leachate pH up to 24 weeks. During this time, the net acidity generated was found to be significantly reduced by the overlying NAF cover. If the reduced rate of acidity production from the natural PAF waste is sustained, the addition of smaller (more economically-feasible) amounts of lime, together with application of NAF wastes as covers, could be trialled as a potential cost-effective AMD mitigation strategy.

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Section: Instrumental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies for Reduced Acid and Metalliferous Drainage by Pyrite Surface Passivation

Qian

Schumann²,

et al. 2017

Minerals

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“…The FIB can create an electron transparent ultra‐thin section suitable for TEM analysis, with a pinpoint, nanometre accuracy; recently, this method has been receiving considerable attention in the Earth Science field (see review by Qian, Li, & Gerson, ; Wirth, ). The FIB‐TEM technique is a powerful and useful tool for investigating mineral inclusions, grain boundaries and defect structures.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting preservation of coesite in ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic rocks: Insights from TEM observations of dislocations within kyanite

Taguchi

Igami

Miyake

et al. 2019

Journal Metamorphic Geology

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To understand the preservation of coesite inclusions in ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks, an integrated petrological, Raman spectroscopic and focussed ion beam (FIB) system-transmission electron microscope (TEM) study was performed on a UHP kyanite eclogite from the Sulu belt in eastern China. Coesite grains have been observed only as rare inclusions in kyanite from the outer segment of garnet and in the matrix. Raman mapping analysis shows that a coesite inclusion in kyanite from the garnet rim records an anisotropic residual stress and retains a maximum residual pressure of~0.35 GPa. TEM observations show quartz is absent from the coesite inclusion-host kyanite grain boundaries. Numerous dislocations and sub-grain boundaries are present in the kyanite, but dislocations are not confirmed in the coesite. In particular, dislocations concentrate in the kyanite adjacent to the boundary with the coesite inclusion, and they form a dislocation concentration zone with a dislocation density of~10 9 cm −2 . A high-resolution TEM image and a fast Fourier transform-filtered image reveal that a tiny dislocation in the dislocation concentration zone is composed of multiple edge dislocations. The estimated dislocation density in most of the kyanite away from the coesite inclusion-host kyanite grain boundaries is~10 8 cm −2 , being lower than that in kyanite adjacent to the coesite. In the case of a coesite inclusion in a matrix kyanite, using Raman and TEM analyses, we could not identify any quartz at the grain boundaries. Dislocations are not observed in the coesite, but numerous dislocations and stacking faults are developed in the kyanite. The estimated overall dislocation density in the coesite-bearing matrix kyanite is~10 8 cm −2 , but a high dislocation density region of~10 9 cm −2 is also present near the coesite inclusion-host kyanite grain boundaries. Inclusion and matrix kyanite grains with no coesite have dislocation densities of ≤10 8 cm −2 . Dislocation density is generally reduced during an annealing process, but our results show that not all dislocations in the kyanite have recovered uniformly during exhumation of the UHP rocks. Hence, one of the key factors acting as a buffer to inhibit the coesite to quartz transformation is the mechanical interaction between the host and the inclusion that lead to the formation of dislocations in the kyanite. The kyanite acts as an excellent pressure container that can preserve coesite during the decompression of rocks from UHP conditions. The search for and study of inclusions in kyanite may be a more suitable approach for tracing the spatial distribution of UHP metamorphic rocks.

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“…There is a portion of the scan that is not classified (referred to as Other). It does not mean that the elemental composition of these points is unknown, simply that there was no mineral definition in the SIP that was consistent with the measured spectra (e.g., Ayling et al 2012;Qian et al 2015). Typically, these points reflect boundary phases between mineral grains, where the X-ray spectra generated are composite signals, although it may represent mineral species that are not defined in the SIP library (Ayling et al, 2012).…”

Section: Bulk Modal Mineral Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Automated petrography analysis by QEMSCAN® of a garnet-staurolite schist of the San Lorenzo Formation, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif

Ríos‒Reyes¹,

Castellanos-Alarcón²,

Villarreal‒Jaimes³

2020

revmexcg

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El análisis petrográfico automatizado integra hardware de microscopía electrónica de barrido y espectroscopía de rayos X con software experto para generar mapas de composición de rocas a escala de micras. Si bien las soluciones de petrografía automatizada, como QEMSCAN®, se usan ampliamente en las industrias de minería, procesamiento de minerales y petróleo para caracterizar los depósitos minerales y las formaciones rocosas subsuperficiales, no se ha utilizado en petrología metamórfica. Este estudio aplica el análisis petrográfico automatizado utilizando QEMSCAN® a un esquisto con granate y estaurolita de la Formación San Lorenzo, provincia geológica de Sevilla (macizo de la Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), y demuestra que esta técnica analítica tiene una clara aplicación potencial en estudios petrológicos.

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Applications of surface analytical techniques in Earth Sciences

Cited by 41 publications

References 349 publications

Strategies for Reduced Acid and Metalliferous Drainage by Pyrite Surface Passivation

Strategies for Reduced Acid and Metalliferous Drainage by Pyrite Surface Passivation

Factors affecting preservation of coesite in ultrahigh‐pressure metamorphic rocks: Insights from TEM observations of dislocations within kyanite

Automated petrography analysis by QEMSCAN® of a garnet-staurolite schist of the San Lorenzo Formation, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta massif

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