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Synchrotron‐based X ray absorption studies of cation environments in Earth materials
Author(s) -
Brown Gordon E.,
Parks George A.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
reviews of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.087
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1944-9208
pISSN - 8755-1209
DOI - 10.1029/rg027i004p00519
Subject(s) - x ray absorption spectroscopy , synchrotron radiation , silicate , synchrotron , extended x ray absorption fine structure , absorption spectroscopy , absorption (acoustics) , mineral , spectroscopy , earth (classical element) , materials science , mineralogy , sorption , metamictization , chemical physics , chemistry , geology , physics , geochemistry , optics , metallurgy , organic chemistry , adsorption , quantum mechanics , composite material , mathematical physics , zircon
Since its development in the early 1970s, synchrotron‐based X ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) has proven to be a versatile structural probe for studying the local environments of cations in a variety of earth materials ranging from crystalline solids, silicate glasses, and high‐temperature silicate melts to aqueous sorption systems which involve metal complexes associated with (or sorbed at) mineral/water interfaces. The structural information provided by XAS includes average interatomic distances and the number and chemical identities of neighbors within 5–6 Å of a selected cation. In many cases (e.g., short‐range ordering of cations in minerals; cation environments in gels, glasses, melts, and metamict (radiation damaged) minerals; and the structure and composition of sorbed species at mineral/water interfaces), XAS provides unique structural data not duplicated by other methods. This paper presents a tutorial review of the physics underlying XAS and data analysis methods and a selective review of applications of XAS to earth materials.