Determination of main rock-forming elements, strontium and zirconium by X-ray fl uorescence analysis for the geochemical characterization of bottom sediments

Abstract

Quantitative X-ray fluorescence determination of major rock-forming oxides (Na 2 O, MgO, Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , P 2 O 5 , K 2 O, CaO, TiO 2 , MnO and Fe 2 O 3 ) and some microelements (Sr and Zr) was performed in the samples of 143 cm-long sediment core of Lake Baunt (Buryat Republic) by the wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis on the S8 Tiger spectrometer. Calibration curves were obtained by measuring the certified reference materials of the sedimentary rocks. Both analyzed and reference samples were prepared as glass beads by fusion of 110 mg of sample with1.1 g of lithium metaborate. We have used 110 mg mass to ensure the formation of beads with appropriate 10 to 12 mm size across to be measured by the spectrometer with8 mm mask. Rh Kα Compton line was used as a background standard for Sr and Zr determination. The repeatability did not exceed the allowable standard deviation for a wide range of concentrations. Results of major rock-forming oxides determination were compared with the data of spectrophotometry and flame photometry techniques, results of Sr and Zr determination were compared with the data of synchrotron radiation excited X-ray fluorescence technique. All results of the X-ray fluorescence analysis were accepted as satisfactory. Quantitative analysis of each centimeter of Lake Baunt sediment core allowed building first reconstructions of the local environment during the last 7000 years with unique resolution of about 100 years. Keywords: wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis, synchrotron radiation induced X-ray fluorescence analysis, sediments, paleoclimate (Russian) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15826/analitika.2017.21.1.003 A.A. Amosova, V.M. Chubarov,E.V. Kaneva, Iu.N. Markova Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Favorsky , 1A, Irkutsk , 664033, Russian Federation