Journal article
Impact of sample preparation methods for characterizing the geochemistry of soils and sediments by portable X‐ray fluorescence
Soil Science Society of America journal, Vol.84(1), pp.131-143
01/2020
DOI: 10.1002/saj2.20004
Abstract
We examined the impact of three different sample preparation methods on bulk soil geochemistry data obtained from a hand-held, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) spectrometer. We generated data from a soil core recovered from the surface, downward into unaltered loess, and into a buried soil at a site in eastern Iowa. Samples were scanned (i) directly from field-moist soil cores; (ii) after drying, grinding, and being loosely massed in plastic cups; and (iii) as pressed-powder pellets. Data derived using these methods were compared with data obtained from a standard benchtop X-ray fluorescence (XRF) unit. Generally, the results indicated that data from pressed powder pellets often provide the best correlation to benchtop XRF data, although the results were sometimes element or compound specific. Calcium oxide, Fe2O3, and K2O generally provided the strongest correlations between pXRF- and XRF-reported values; SiO2 data were more problematic. Field-moist pXRF scans generally underestimated element concentrations, but the correlations between pXRF and benchtop XRF measurements were greatly improved after applying pXRF-derived calibration standards. In summary, although element/compound data provided by pXRF showed significant relationships to benchtop XRF data, the results are improved with proper sample preparation (i.e., drying, grinding, pressing) and usually by calibrating the pXRF data against known standards.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Impact of sample preparation methods for characterizing the geochemistry of soils and sediments by portable X‐ray fluorescence
- Creators
- Kathleen Goff - Department of Earth and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Iowa 115 Trowbridge Hall Iowa City IA 52242Randall J Schaetzl - Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences, 673 Auditorium Rd.Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan 48823 USASomsubhra Chakraborty - Agricultural and Food Engineering DepartmentIndian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Kharagpur India 721302David C Weindorf - Department of Plant and Soil ScienceTexas Tech University Box 42122 Lubbock TX 79409Chase Kasmerchak - Department of GeographyUniversity of Wisconsin 550 N. Park Street Madison WI 53706E. Arthur Bettis - Department of Earth and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Iowa 115 Trowbridge Hall Iowa City IA 52242
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Soil Science Society of America journal, Vol.84(1), pp.131-143
- DOI
- 10.1002/saj2.20004
- ISSN
- 0361-5995
- eISSN
- 1435-0661
- Grant note
- name: NSF-EAR, award: #1331906
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Earth and Environmental Sciences
- Record Identifier
- 9984066351902771
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