Abstract
Prior research has shown that fluorine and chlorine X-ray count rates vary with exposure to the electron beam during electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) of apatite. Stormer et al. (1993) and Stormer and Pierson (1993) demonstrate that the EPMA-operating conditions affect the halogen intensities in F-rich natural Durango and Wilberforce apatites and in a Cl-rich apatite. Following these studies, we investigated the effects of operating conditions on time-dependent X-ray intensity variations of F and Cl in a broad range of anhydrous fluor-chlorapatites. We tested 7, 10, and 15 kV accelerating voltages; 4, 10, and 15 nA beam currents; 2, 5, and 10 μm diameter fixed spot sizes; and the influence of 2 distinct crystal orientations under the electron beam. We find that the halogen X-ray intensity variations fluctuate strongly with operating conditions and the bulk F and Cl contents of apatite. We determined the optimal EPMA operating conditions for these anhydrous fluor-chlorapatites to be: 10 kV accelerating voltage, 4 nA beam current (measured at the Faraday cup), 10 μm diameter fixed spot, and the apatite crystals oriented with their c-axes perpendicular to the incident electron beam. This EPMA technique was tested on a suite of 19 synthetic anhydrous apatites that covers the fluorapatite-chlorapatite solid-solution series. The results of these analyses are highly accurate; the F and Cl EPMA data agree extremely well with wet-chemical analyses and have an R2 value >0.99.
© 2015 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere
- The 3.65 Å phase, MgSi(OH)6: Structural insights from DFT-calculations and T-dependent IR spectroscopy
- Vertical zonation of the Barcroft granodiorite, White Mountains, California: Implications for magmatic processes
- Minerals in cement chemistry: A single-crystal neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopic study of thaumasite, Ca3Si(OH)6(CO3)(SO4)·12H2O
- A new high-pressure phase transition in natural Fe-bearing orthoenstatite
- Aluminum solubility in TiO2 rutile at high pressure and experimental evidence for a CaCl2-structured polymorph
- First record and timing of UHP metamorphism from zircon in the Xitieshan terrane: Implications for the evolution of the entire North Qaidam metamorphic belt
- Lead in zircon at the atomic scale
- Characterization of fluor-chlorapatites by electron probe microanalysis with a focus on time-dependent intensity variation of halogens
- An inversion-based self-calibration for SIMS measurements: Application to H, F, and Cl in apatite
- Second boiling effects on the Al-content of hornblende rims from an exhumed Cretaceous arc pluton, Stewart Island, New Zealand
- Heat transfer in plagioclase feldspars
- Transport properties and equation of state of 1-bar eutectic melt in the system CaAl2Si2O8-CaMgSi2O6 by molecular dynamics simulation
- High-pressure behavior of zoisite
- A first-principle investigation of antigorite up to 30 GPa: Structural behavior under compression
- Reynoldsite, Pb2Mn4+2 O5(CrO4), a new phyllomanganate-chromate from the Blue Bell claims, California and the Red Lead mine, Tasmania
- A new cubic perovskite in PbGeO3 at high pressures
- Manganoquadratite, AgMnAsS3, a new manganese-bearing sulfosalt from the Uchucchacua polymetallic deposit, Lima Department, Peru: Description and crystal structure
- Leucostaurite, Pb2[B5O9]Cl·0.5H2O, from the Atacama Desert: The first Pb-dominant member of the hilgardite group, and micro-determination of boron in minerals by PIGE
- Synthetic LiAlGe2O6: The first pyroxene with P21/n symmetry
- Panguite, (Ti4+,Sc,Al,Mg,Zr,Ca)1.8O3, a new ultra-refractory titania mineral from the Allende meteorite: Synchrotron micro-diffraction and EBSD
- Buseckite, (Fe,Zn,Mn)S, a new mineral from the Zakłodzie meteorite
- Experimental calibration of the effect of H2O on plagioclase crystallization in basaltic melt at 200 MPa
- High-pressure and high-temperature titanium solution mechanisms in silicate-saturated aqueous fluids and hydrous silicate melts
- Thermodynamic behavior and properties of katoite (hydrogrossular): A calorimetric study
- Graphite in the martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001
Articles in the same Issue
- Mercury (Hg) mineral evolution: A mineralogical record of supercontinent assembly, changing ocean geochemistry, and the emerging terrestrial biosphere
- The 3.65 Å phase, MgSi(OH)6: Structural insights from DFT-calculations and T-dependent IR spectroscopy
- Vertical zonation of the Barcroft granodiorite, White Mountains, California: Implications for magmatic processes
- Minerals in cement chemistry: A single-crystal neutron diffraction and Raman spectroscopic study of thaumasite, Ca3Si(OH)6(CO3)(SO4)·12H2O
- A new high-pressure phase transition in natural Fe-bearing orthoenstatite
- Aluminum solubility in TiO2 rutile at high pressure and experimental evidence for a CaCl2-structured polymorph
- First record and timing of UHP metamorphism from zircon in the Xitieshan terrane: Implications for the evolution of the entire North Qaidam metamorphic belt
- Lead in zircon at the atomic scale
- Characterization of fluor-chlorapatites by electron probe microanalysis with a focus on time-dependent intensity variation of halogens
- An inversion-based self-calibration for SIMS measurements: Application to H, F, and Cl in apatite
- Second boiling effects on the Al-content of hornblende rims from an exhumed Cretaceous arc pluton, Stewart Island, New Zealand
- Heat transfer in plagioclase feldspars
- Transport properties and equation of state of 1-bar eutectic melt in the system CaAl2Si2O8-CaMgSi2O6 by molecular dynamics simulation
- High-pressure behavior of zoisite
- A first-principle investigation of antigorite up to 30 GPa: Structural behavior under compression
- Reynoldsite, Pb2Mn4+2 O5(CrO4), a new phyllomanganate-chromate from the Blue Bell claims, California and the Red Lead mine, Tasmania
- A new cubic perovskite in PbGeO3 at high pressures
- Manganoquadratite, AgMnAsS3, a new manganese-bearing sulfosalt from the Uchucchacua polymetallic deposit, Lima Department, Peru: Description and crystal structure
- Leucostaurite, Pb2[B5O9]Cl·0.5H2O, from the Atacama Desert: The first Pb-dominant member of the hilgardite group, and micro-determination of boron in minerals by PIGE
- Synthetic LiAlGe2O6: The first pyroxene with P21/n symmetry
- Panguite, (Ti4+,Sc,Al,Mg,Zr,Ca)1.8O3, a new ultra-refractory titania mineral from the Allende meteorite: Synchrotron micro-diffraction and EBSD
- Buseckite, (Fe,Zn,Mn)S, a new mineral from the Zakłodzie meteorite
- Experimental calibration of the effect of H2O on plagioclase crystallization in basaltic melt at 200 MPa
- High-pressure and high-temperature titanium solution mechanisms in silicate-saturated aqueous fluids and hydrous silicate melts
- Thermodynamic behavior and properties of katoite (hydrogrossular): A calorimetric study
- Graphite in the martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001