Cox Analytical Systems

Wood applications

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:17:12 +0000

Wood has the great advantage of having a distinct chronology, making it perfect for some applications that need temporal information. Year ring maximum density in wood shows the best correlation to summer temperature, offering higher correlation than the traditional year ring width measurements, but also better than isotope analysis etc. It has been shown that good climate reconstructions can be done also on wood grown away from the timber line (Helama et. al. See Articles for full reference).

XRF applications of wood involve determination of year ring width in wood species with obscure year rings, like many tropical trees. Here, Ca has been shown to be a good marker that distintly shows year ring boundries and separate true and false year rings. The elements that can be detected with XRF in wood seem to be fixed in their position, so that the time for uptake can be determined long after. XRF analysis of wood allows for determination of a range of elements, including Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, and Sr. Sometimes, other elements, including Pb xxx can be detected. The excellent precision and repeatability of each analysis makes data trustworthy and useful, which is required in many applications. In environmental monitoring and environmental forensics, XRF analysis is a tool that offers a very attractive combination of sensitivity and reproducibility. The non-destructive aspect just adds to it.

Articles on wood applications can be found under Articles in the main menu.

In the photo above, a pine lath placed in the Multiscanner sample holder is shown in colour on a black background. Overlaid on that is the radiographic image in inverted greyscale, with the Ca profile of that sample overlaid in blue. Data were collected with the Multiscanner. The scan resolution was 50 micrometers. A larger image is available by clicking HERE.

sediment applications

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:08:57 +0000

One of the main applications of the Itrax Corescanner is paleo-climatic reconstructions based on data from split sediment cores. Element information from XRF analyses offers proxies for a wide range of parameters, including seasonal changes, oxic/anoxic conditions, amount of shell/foraminifera, grain size related effects, tefra, shallow water aragonite source, sediment grading, redox related diagenesis, biogenic silica, etc. in marine as well as limnological environment.Furthermore, it includes provenance studies, laminations counting, reconstruction of past lake conductivity, and estimations of past productivity, weathering, cyclone frequency, leaching and erosion intensities.

In lakes, even seasonal changes including temperature estimates can be traced. Several project involving high resolution scanning of large core materials to trace changes on a seasonal or yearly scale thousands of years back are currently running. Such projects include the Lake Malawi project, the lake Tana project and a some others. More information on these can be found under Articles in the main menu.

In the image above, two sediment core photos are shown. The upper one is taken from a lake sediment split core. Superimposed on that is the radiograph together with the Sr/Ca ratio profile (data with courtesy of Prof. Pierre Francus, INRA, Quebec, Canada). Below is a marine sediment split core photo overlaid with the radiograph and the Al and Si element profiles (courtesy of Dr. Guy Rothwell, NOC, Southampton, UK). Data were collected with Itrax Corescanner instruments, at a scan resolution of 200 micrometers. Please note the fine structures in both samples, which require high resolution scans to be detailed. A larger image is available by clicking HERE.

Support in Chinese / User meeting in Lipari

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:53:55 +0000

We can now offer support in Chinese

Our new employee Yuejun Sun origins from Daqing in mainland China and moved to Sweden three years ago. Yuejun´s native tounge is Mandarine, but she has learnt Swedish quickly and is now fluent in both languages. Yuejun will work as support engineer with focus on China and Taiwan.

Yuejun Sun

User meeting in Lipari

The ITRAX corescanner now exists in some twenty leading institutions, worldwide from the USA, Canada, Sweden, Norway, UK, Ireland, Spain, France, Germany, Turkey, Taiwan, Korea and China, and has become a key analytical tool in palaeoceanography, palaeolimnology and in the emerging field of environmental forensics. To review scientific applications and discuss future enhancement of the instrument, an international user workshop ITRAX2010 - Applications, innovations and future developments was held on the island of Lipari, Italy, on 12-14 April, 2010. Over 30 senior scientists from ITRAX-owning institutions attended and enjoyed a varied and stimulating programme of 29 talks and poster presentations. The meeting was judged to be a great success by all and is hoped to be repeated in three years time.

Itrax Multiscanner

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:49:20 +0000

The Itrax Multiscanner combines density and XRF multi-element analysis of wood and other samples. The instrument is primarily adapted for analysis of wood laths but can also be used for other wood samples like drill cores and discs, and also for analysis of speleothem etc. The instrument scans over the samples with a fine x-ray beam to perform a number of separate analyses under optimal conditions.The density information is recorded digitally, so all work is done through the computer and no use of film is involved. A sample can be scanned in a few minutes, and data displayed on the monitor as the scan proceeds . The instrument utilizes soft x-ray of high intensity, and sample scanning is therefor quick and data precise. The lateral resolution is high enough to allow for accurate determination of parameters like year ring width and maximum density. The whole analytical procedure from setting parameters to working on the resulting data is computer based.

The XRF allows for analysis of a range of elements from Mg and heavier. The elements that are usually detected in wood include Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, and Sr. More or fewer elements can be detected depending on concentration in the wood and time for analysis.

Itrax XRF Corescanner

admin — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:48:53 +0000

The Itrax XRF Corescanner is an analytical instrument for scanning of sediment cores, rock cores and other samples. It combines XRF, radiographic x-ray imaging, and optical imaging. Long samples can be scanned in their entire length, at any stepsize from centimeter and down to sub millimeter level. At each point an analysis is performed, and these step-by-step analyses together build up element profiles that show the changes in composition along the sample. Each analysis can be as short as 1 second per point or longer, depending on the requirements. X-ray transmission image information is recorded to display the samples chemical and density features as a radiographic image. Optical image information displays the sample surface at high resolution. An optional magnetic susceptibility scanner completes the sensor range.

The Itrax XRF Corescanner offers high capacity with analyses reaching PPM sensitivity in a second for a wide range of elements. This speedy instrument also excels in precision and reproducibility. Elements from Mg and heavier can be determined, on a non-destructive and non contact basis. Many of the installations are in use around the clock, with a minimum of downtime. When support is needed, our support team can minimize the delay by connecting to the instrument over the Internet, to check and change performance, to do diagnostics or to train new users.

Cox Analytical Systems

admin — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:18:03 +0000

The Itrax instruments from Cox Analytical Systems find their main fields of application in environmental, geological and climate related applications. These x-ray scanners allow you to scan over samples for a wide range of elements, and at the same time get optical images and density images. Sample types include sediment and rock cores, wood samples and more. The combination of multi-element XRF analysis, x-ray radiography images and optical images that these instruments offer is unique and has proven to be very useful. The analyses are non-destructive to your samples and can provide information in spot sizes from the centimeter scale down to microscale in lateral resolution. Elements from Mg and heavier can be analyzed, most of them in any concentration down to the trace level. With high analytical power and accuracy, these instruments provide a large amount of information in short time, with a minimum of sample preparation. Fields of application include, but are not limited to, Paleoclimatology, Geology, Mining, Oceanography, Limnology, Dendrochronology, Dendrochemistry, Environmental Science and Environmental Forensics.