Comparison of Synchrotron Radiation X‐Ray Fluorescence with Conventional Techniques for the Analysis of Sedimentary Samples

Abstract

A comparison is made of elemental analyses of sediment samples (lake bottom sediments and sediments from the petroliferous Bazhenovka Formation) by five competitive methods (synchrotron radiation X‐ray fluorescence (SR‐XRF), INAA, ICP‐MS, AAS and traditional XRF). The object of this study was to identify the most suitable analytical techniques for applications in sedimentary geochemistry. Advantages and shortcomings of the five techniques were considered with respect to applications related to studies of palaeo‐climate changes recorded in sedimentary cores from Lake Baikal and the geochemical stratigraphy of the Bazhenovka Formation, which is rich in organic material. We have concluded that SR‐XRF was the best technique for producing extensive analytical data series, from the point of view of its speed, ease of application, cost, non‐destructive nature and sensitivity, which allowed for the simultaneous determination of more than twenty elements of geochemical interest in small samples of sediments. An additional benefit of the method was demonstrated when used for the independent certification of geological reference materials. International reference samples BIL‐1 and SDO‐1 were certified by means of this method without use of reference materials. Analyses were based on the physics of the theory of energy transport.

Multi‐Wavelength Synchrotron Radiation XRF Determination of U and Th in Sedimentary Cores from Lake Baikal

“…In addition, we performed "intrinsic" tests for the accuracy and stability of SR-XRF (Table 2) by measuring the U and Th concentrations (C SR-XRF ) in reference materials SDO-1 and BIL-1 (certified/recommended values are from Govindaraju 1994). The photo peak of Sr in BIL-1 was used as an internal standard to calibrate the coefficients from equations 1 and 2, following the procedure in Phedorin et al (2000c); then, using the calculated values of U and Th concentrations in BIL-1, we obtained the respective values in SDO-1 (without internal standard). Table 2 also gives the values of the lower detection limit for the determination of U and Th.…”

Heavy carbon travertine related to methane generation: A case study of the Big Tarkhan cold spring, Kerch Peninsula, Crimea

“…The element abundances were measured in 30 mg fine powder (b 50 μm) samples compressed into 6 mm pellets at 120-150 kg/cm 2 , with the samples of dolomitic limestone (SI-1, SI-2 provided by the Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry (Irkutsk) used as external standards (Phedorin et al, 2000)). The analytical precision was about 10-15%.…”

Tracing recent glacial events in bottom sediments of a glacial lake (East Sayan Ridge, Russia) from high‐resolution SR‐XRF, ICP‐MS, and FTIR records

“…a 1-year resolution (in some cases, even a 1-season one) with time intervals of a few thousands of years. [24][25][26] The resulting spectra were processed using the program AXIL (Canberra Packard, Benelux). Taking the intensity profiles in the core into account, we isolated the intervals of constant concentration of each of the chemical elements of interest, the so-called 'shelves'.…”