Principle
The sample is excited by X-rays (Rh target). Electrons are knocked out of the inner shells of the atom. Electrons from higher energy levels can thus fall back into the electron gaps. The energy released in this process is emitted in the form of element-specific fluorescence radiation. The intensity of the fluorescence radiation, which is measured either by a flow counter or a scintillation detector depending on the energy, is proportional to the concentration in the sample. The device at the Institute of Earth Sciences is able to measure the chemical elements from F to U qualitatively and quantitatively.
Applications
XRF is mainly used for the determination of major and minor elements (+selected trace elements) in various rocks, ceramics, building materials, raw materials, etc... (inorganic material). The chemical composition makes it possible to understand the genesis of rocks, to recognize geochemical processes, to reconstruct tectonic processes, to characterize archaeological artefacts, to examine raw materials for their purity, etc...
Analyzed rocks:
Earth mantle rocks, carbonates, granitoids, gabbroids, metapelites, sandstones, kermite and clay shards, etc.
Available reference materials
More than 100 reference materials including reference materials from the USGS (United States Geological Survey; https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2007/3056/), the GSJ (Geological Survey of Japan; https://gbank.gsj.jp/geostandards/welcome.html), and several samples from the Proficiency Testing Program Geo-PT(http://www.geoanalyst.org/geopt/)
Publications
Assawincharoenkij, Thitiphan; Hauzenberger, Christoph; Ettinger, Karl; Sutthirat, Chakkaphan
Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of waste rocks from a gold mine in northeastern Thailand: application for environmental impact protection.
In: Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 25.4. 2018. 3488-3500. doi:10.1007/s11356-017-0731-6
Nong, Anh T.Q.; Hauzenberger, Christoph; Gallhofer, Daniela; Dinh, Sang Q.
Geochemistry and zircon U\\Pb geochronology of Late Mesozoic igneous rocks from SW Vietnam - SE Cambodia: Implications for episodic magmatism in the context of the Paleo-Pacific subduction.
In: Lithos. 390-391,390-391. 2021. 20pp. doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2021.106101
Mandl, Magdalena; Kurz, Walter; Hauzenberger, Christoph; Fritz, Harald; Pfingstl, Stefan
Geochemistry of granitoids from the Austroalpine Seckau Complex: a key for revealing the pre-Alpine evolution of the Eastern Alps.
In: Mineralogy and Petrology. 116. 2022. 251-272. doi:10.1007/s00710-022-00781-3
Nong, Anh T. Q.; Hauzenberger, Christoph A.; Gallhofer, Daniela; Skrzypek, Etienne; Dinh, Sang Q.
Geochemical and zircon U-Pb geochronological constraints on late Mesozoic Paleo-Pacific subduction-related volcanism in southern Vietnam.
In: Mineralogy and Petrology. 116.5. 2022. 349-368. doi:10.1007/s00710-022-00785-z
Khedr, MZ; Desouky, AAA; Kamh, S; Hauzenberger, C; Arai, S; Tamura, A; Whattam, SA; Morishita, T; Lasheen, ER; El-Awady, A
Petrogenesis of Gerf Neoproterozoic carbonatized peridotites (Egypt): Evidence of convergent margin metasomatism of depleted sub-arc mantle.
In: Lithos. 450. 2023. . doi:10.1016/j.lithos.2023.107192