Portable X-ray fluorescence for environmental assessment of soils: Not just a point and shoot method

Ravansari, Roozbeh; Wilson, Susan C.; Tighe, Matthew

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2019.105250

Cited by 104 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…2020; Ravansari et al . 2020). This has key implications for archaeological investigations, such as when comparing relative concentrations of elements across an excavation or between sites (Wilson et al .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

pXRF method development for elemental analysis of archaeological soil

2020

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Portable X‐ray fluorescence (pXRF) is now widely used for detecting the elemental composition of a material. Elemental analysis can enhance archaeological interpretations, such as mapping, preservation analysis and identifying anthropogenic activities. However, validated and reproducible protocols for analysing archaeological soil are still required. The elemental concentrations detected with three sets of preparation methods were compared: in‐situ (no preparation), in‐field (analysing through plastic bags) and ex‐situ analysis (laboratory‐based preparation). Influential factors were also investigated: calibration parameter, moisture, homogeneity, sieve size and soil type. In‐field analysis attempted to improve reliability without offsite processing, but instead substantially reduced elemental concentrations and skewed the proportional distributions. Ex‐situ analysis significantly increased elemental concentrations and reduced variation. Proportional distribution was different between the three methods, but unchanged following homogenizing and sieving. These comparisons demonstrated that ex‐situ analysis maximizes detection and ensures consistent samples.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

pXRF method development for elemental analysis of archaeological soil

2020

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“…A considerable number of research articles and reviews have directed their attention to the potential of developing mobile and handheld devices based on various detection methods. Some of these include Raman [82][83][84][85][86][87], ultraviolet (UV) [88], visible [89], ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) [90][91][92], near-infrared (NIR) [93,94], Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) [95,96], induced fluorescence [97][98][99], electrochemical detectors (ECDs), and X-ray fluorescence [100][101][102]. The vast majority of these methods can be adapted to detect and quantify eluting analytes in an LC instrument.…”

Section: The Detectormentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Portable High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: the Future of the Field?

et al. 2020

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There is a growing need for chemical analyses to be performed in the field, at the point of need. Tools and techniques often found in analytical chemistry laboratories are necessary in performing these analyses, yet have, historically, been unable to do so owing to their size, cost and complexity. Technical advances in miniaturisation and liquid chromatography are enabling the translation of these techniques out of the laboratory, and into the field. Here we examine the advances that are enabling portable liquid chromatography (LC). We explore the evolution of portable instrumentation from its inception to the most recent advances, highlighting the trends in the field and discussing the necessary criteria for developing in-field solutions. While instrumentation is becoming more capable it has yet to find adoption outside of research.

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“…Alternative' method for total elemental analysis: ex situ direct measurement by portable XRF X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is an elemental analysis technique with broad environmental and geologic applications, from pollution assessments to mining industries (Ravansari et al, 2020;Rouillon and Taylor, 2016;Weindorf et al, 2014a;Young et al, 2016). In addition, there is a growing use of portable XRF for soil science (McLaren et al, 2012;Ravansari and Lemke, 2018).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…XRF-scanning results represent elements intensities in "counts per second" (cps) which are proportional to chemical concentrations in the sample but depend also on sample properties (Röhl and Abrams, 2000), ice and water content (Tjallingii et al, 2007;Weindorf et al, 2014b) and interactions between elements called "matrix effect" (Fritz et al, 2018;Weltje and Tjallingii, 2008). In situ pXRF measurement often involves variability from uncontrolled environmental factors, such as water content, organic matter content or sample heterogeneity (Ravansari et al, 2020;Shand and Wendler, 2014;Weindorf et al, 2014b). To avoid such variability in water content, measurements were performed on dried samples in laboratory (ex situ) conditions with the handheld device in the laboratory.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For the pXRF measurement, the dried sample is placed on a circular plastic cap (2.5 cm diameter) provided at its base with a transparent thin film (prolene 4µm). To avoid the underestimation of the detected intensities sample thickness in the cap needs to be higher than 5 mm to 2 cm, depending on the element of interest (Ravansari et al, 2020). For a precise measurement, the sample thickness in the cap is set to >2 cm.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Mineral element stocks in the Yedoma domain: a first assessment in ice-rich permafrost regions

Monhonval

Opfergelt

Mauclet

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Abstract. With permafrost thaw, significant amounts of organic carbon (OC) previously stored in frozen deposits are unlocked and become potentially available for microbial mineralization. This is particularly the case in ice-rich regions such as the Yedoma domain. Excess ground ice degradation exposes deep sediments and their OC stocks, but also mineral elements, to biogeochemical processes. Interactions of mineral elements and OC play a crucial role for OC stabilization and the fate of OC upon thaw, and thus regulate carbon dioxide and methane emissions. In addition, some mineral elements are limiting nutrients for plant growth or microbial metabolic activity. A large ongoing effort is to quantify OC stocks and their lability in permafrost regions, but the influence of mineral elements on the fate of OC or on biogeochemical nutrient cycles has received less attention. The reason is that there is a gap of knowledge on the mineral element content in permafrost regions. Here, we use a portable X-ray fluorescence device (pXRF) to provide (i) the first large-scale Yedoma domain Mineral Concentrations Assessment (YMCA) dataset (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.922724; Monhonval et al., in review), and (ii) estimates of mineral element stocks in never thawed (since deposition) ice-rich Yedoma permafrost and previously thawed and partly refrozen Alas deposits. The pXRF method for mineral element quantification is non-destructive and offers a complement to the classical dissolution and measurement by optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in solution. This allowed a mineral element concentration (Si, Al, Fe, Ca, K, Ti, Mn, Zn, Sr and Zr) assessment on 1292 sediment samples from the Yedoma domain with lower analytical effort and affordable costs relative to the classical ICP-OES method. pXRF measured concentrations were calibrated using standard alkaline fusion and ICP-OES measurements on a subset of 144 samples (R2 from 0.725 to 0.996). The results highlight that (i) the most abundant mineral element in the Yedoma domain is Si (2739 ± 986 Gt) followed by Al, Fe, K, Ca, Ti, Mn, Zr, Sr, and Zn, and that (ii) Al and Fe (598 ± 213 and 288 ± 104 Gt) are present in the same order of magnitude than OC (327–466 Gt).

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Portable X-ray fluorescence for environmental assessment of soils: Not just a point and shoot method

Cited by 104 publications

References 81 publications

pXRF method development for elemental analysis of archaeological soil

pXRF method development for elemental analysis of archaeological soil

A Review of Portable High-Performance Liquid Chromatography: the Future of the Field?

Mineral element stocks in the Yedoma domain: a first assessment in ice-rich permafrost regions

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