| Home > Articles > Published articles > Noninvasive elemental XRF characterization of mudstone lagerstätten for provenance identification: Advantages and limitations |
| Date: | 2025 |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to explore the utility of portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) techniques in identifying the geochemical signature of various classical fossil sites within museum collections. The motivation for this research stems from the challenges posed by the Montsec lithographic limestones collection, which has been dispersed globally since the last century. In some cases, tracing the Montsec origin of certain pieces has proven to be unclear. To achieve this goal, we have examined 17 different lagerstätten sites characterized by distinct carbonate lithology and chronology, using various sample sets. The aim is to determine the feasibility of distinguishing each site through pXRF. The result indicate that this goal is achievable in many sites, such as Ockley or Daohughou, where differentiation is clear. However, in some instances, more sensitive XRF instruments or even other non-destructive techniques are required, as seen in the case of Solnhofen site and Montsec lithographic limestones. Nonetheless, even in these cases, some level of differentiation is possible through non-invasive pXRF. Furthermore, within the context of museum collections, we are examining the impact of resin used for fossils conservation (such as Paraloid ® -B72) on the detection of compositional signatures. It is noted that resin treatments can bring about changes, such as masking calcium detection and introducing iron into the obtained data. |
| Grants: | Agencia Estatal de Investigación PGC2018-101575-B-I00 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2023-151769NB-I00 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2020/FI-SDUR-00360 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PID2019-105537RB-100 Agencia Estatal de Investigación PLEC2021-00793 Generalitat de Catalunya ARQ001SOL-173-2022 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00127 |
| Rights: | Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. |
| Language: | Anglès |
| Document: | Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada |
| Subject: | Geological heritage ; Fossil-record ; X-ray fluorescence ; Lithographic limestone ; Geochemistry |
| Published in: | Paleontologia Electronica, Vol. 28.1 (January 2025) , art. 28.1.a3 |
20 p, 666.1 KB |