Micro-XRF Studies of Sediment Cores: Applications of a non-destructive tool for the environmental sciences (Developments in Paleoenvironmental Research)

This volume presents papers on the use of micro-XRF core scanners in palaeoenvironmental research. It contains a broad ranging view of instrument capability and points to future developments that will help contribute to higher precision elemental data and faster core analysis. Readers will find a diverse range of research by leading experts that have used micro-XRF core scanners in a wide range of scientific applications. The book includes specific application papers reporting on the use of XRF core scanners in a variety of marine, lacustrine, and pollution studies. In addition, coverage also examines practical aspects of core scanner usage, data optimisation and data calibration and interpretation. In a little over a decade, micro-XRF sediment core scanners have made a substantive contribution to palaeoenvironmental research. Their impact is based on their ability to rapidly, non-destructively and automatically scan sediment cores. Not only do they rapidly provide important proxy data without damaging samples, but they can obtain environmental data at decadal, annual and even sub-annual scales. This volume will help both experienced and new users of these non-destructive core scanners take full advantage of one of the most powerful geochemical screening tools in the environmental scientist’s toolbox. Ian Croudace is a geochemist with more than 40 years research experience, holds an academic position at the University of Southampton (Ocean and Earth Science) and is Director of GAU-Radioanalytical. He is a specialist in several branches of analytical geochemistry including X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, gamma ray spectrometry and radioanalytical chemistry and has published more than 135 papers in the international geochemical and chemical literature. During his career he has supervised 26 PhD students on a variety of geochemical topics. He has also co-developed an industry standard instrument for extracting tritium and C-14 from nuclear and related materials. With NOC colleague Guy Rothwell in 2000 he conceived the fundamental design of what became the prototype Itrax X-ray corescanner. He jointly obtained development funding, identified and commissioned the analytical partner (Cox Analytical) and contributed to the realisation of the first Itrax core scanner that emerged in 2003. Guy Rothwell is a marine sedimentologist and Curator of the British Ocean Sediment Core Research Facility (BOSCORF), the UK’s national deep-sea core repository, located at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. He has participated in over 25 research cruises including two legs of the Ocean Drilling Program. He and colleague Ian Croudace conceived of and secured the funds to realise the prototype Itrax core scanner and contributed to its design. He is author of Minerals and Mineraloids in Marine Sediments (Elsevier Applied Science, 1989) and editor of New Techniques in Sediment Core Analysis (Geological Society of London Special Publication, 2006). 1. Micro-XRF Studies of sediment cores: A perspective on capability and application in the environmental sciences               Rothwell RG, Croudace, IW   Part 1 – Marine studies   2. Twenty years of XRF core scanning marine sediments: what do geochemical proxies tell us?   Rothwell G, Croudace IW   3. Optimization of ITRAX core scanner measurement conditions for sediments from submarine mud volcanoes Rodrguez-Germade I, Rubio B, Rey D, Vilas F, Lpez-Rodrguez C, Comas M, & Martnez-Ruiz, F   4. Use of calibrated ITRAX data in determining turbidite geochemistry and provenance in Agadir Basin, Northwest African passive margin Hunt JE, Croudace IW, MacLachlan S    5. Identification, correlation and origin of multistage landslide events in volcaniclastic turbidites in the Moroccan Turbidite System Hunt JE, Wynn RB, Croudace IW   6. An empirical assessment of variable water content and grain size on X-ray fluorescence core-scanning measurements of deep-sea sediments MacLachlan SE, Hunt JE, Croudace IW  Part 2 – Lake and river studies   7. Micro-XRF core scanning in palaeolimnology: recent developments Davies SJ, Lamb HF, Roberts S   8. Micro-XRF applications in fluvial sedimentary environments of Britain and Ireland: progress and prospects Turner JN, Jones AF, Brewer PA, Macklin MG, Rassner SM                    9. Estimation of biogenic silica concentrations using scanning XRF: Insights from studies of Lake Malawi sediments Brown ET   10. Optimization of Itrax core scanner protocols for the micro X-ray fluorescence analysis of finely laminated sediment: a case study of lacustrine varved sediment from the High Arctic Cuven S, Francus P, Crmer JF, Brub F   11. Investigating the use of scanning X-ray fluorescence to locate cryptotephra in minerogenic lacustrine sediment: experimental results Balascio NL, Francus P, Bradley RS, Schupack BB, Miller GH, Kvisvik BC, Bakke J, Thordarson T   12. Combined micro-XRF and microfacies techniques for lake sediment analyses Dulski P, Brauer A, Mangili C 13.  Experiences with XRF-scanning of long sediment records Ohlendorf C, Wennrich V, Enters D   14.  Approaches to water content correction and calibration for XRF core scanning: comparing  X-ray scattering with simple regression of elemental concentrations Boyle JF, Chiverrell RC, Schillereff D   Part 3 – Environmental geochemistry and forensic applications   15. X-ray core scanners as an environmental forensics tool: a case study of polluted harbour sediment (Augusta Bay, Sicily) Croudace IW, Romano E, Antonella A, Bergamin L, Rothwell G   16. Modern pollution signals in sediments from Windermere, NW England, determined by micro-XRF and lead isotope analysis Miller H, Croudace IW, Bull JM, Cotterill CJ, Dix JK, Taylor RN   17. ITRAX core scanner capabilities combined with other geochemical and radiochemical techniques to evaluate environmental changes in a local catchment, South Sydney, NSW, Australia Gadd P, Heijnis H, Chagu-Goff C, Zawadzki A, Fierro D, Atahan P, Croudace IW, Goralewski J    Part 4 – Technological aspects   18. A geochemical approach to improve radiocarbon-based age-depth models in non-laminated sediment series Arnaud F, Rvillon S   19. Limited influence of sediment grain-size on elemental XRF core scanner measurements Bertrand S, Hughen K, Giosan L   20. Standardisation and calibration of X-radiographs acquired with the ITRAX core scanner Francus P, Kanamaru K, Fortin D   21. Prediction of geochemical composition from XRF core scanner data: A new multivariate approach including automatic selection of calibration samples and quantification of uncertainties Weltje GJ, Bloemsma MR, Tjallingii R, Heslop D, Rhl U, Croudace IW   22. Parameter optimisation for the ITRAX core scanner Jarvis S, Croudace IW, Rothwell RG   23. UV-spectral luminescence scanning: technical updates and calibration developments Grove CA, Rodriguez-Ramirez A, Merschel G, Tjallingii R, Zinke J, Macia A, Brummer G-J   24. An inter-comparison of XRF scanning analytical methods for lake sediments Schillereff DN, Chiverrell RC, Croudace IW, Boyle JF   25. Analysis of coal cores using micro-XRF scanning techniques Kelloway SJ, Ward CR, Marjo CE, Wainwright IE, Cohen DR   26. ItraxPlot: a flexible program to aid rapid visualisation of ITRAX data Croudace IW, Rothwell RG Part 5 – The future of non-destructive core scanning   27. Future developments and innovations in high-resolution core scanning Croudace IW, Rothwell RG