Rapid, Nondestructive Total Elemental Analysis of Vertisol Soils using Portable X-ray Fluorescence

Title
Rapid, Nondestructive Total Elemental Analysis of Vertisol Soils using Portable X-ray Fluorescence
Publication Date
2012
Author(s)
McLaren, Timothy
Guppy, Christopher
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7274-607X
Email: cguppy@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:cguppy
Tighe, Matthew
Forster, Nicola
Grave, Peter
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5076-2386
Email: pgrave@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pgrave
Lisle, Leanne
Bennett, John
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Soil Science Society of America
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.2136/sssaj2011.0354
UNE publication id
une:11428
Abstract
Portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectrometry can provide rapid and nondestructive analyses of agriculturally important elements in soil. To assess the applicability of PXRF for total element analysis of Vertisols, 20 soils were collected across northern New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Comparison of PXRF results were made with conventional standard microwave aqua regia (AR) digestion followed by inductively couple plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) analysis, laboratory X-ray fluorescence (LXRF), and neutron activation analysis (NAA). Strong linear correlations were found for As, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Si, Ti, and Zn. We demonstrate that nondestructive analyses for total soil element determination, particularly Ca, Fe, Mn, and P, should now allow rapid elucidation of important chemical processes in Vertisols that are commonly only available following rigorous sample preparation and digestion. The integrated and robust character of PXRF instrumentation, requiring minimal or no dedicated laboratory infrastructure, is readily adaptable to a wide range of analytical situations.
Link
Citation
Soil Science Society of America Journal, 76(4), p. 1436-1445
ISSN
1435-0661
0361-5995
Start page
1436
End page
1445

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