| Author(s): | Denniston, R.F., Shearer, C.K., Layne. G.D. and Vaniman, D.T. |
| Year: | 1997 |
| Title: | SIMS analysis of minor and trace element distributions in fracture calcite from Yucca Mountain, Nevada, USA |
| Reference: | Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 61, 1803-1818 |
| Keywords: | radioactive waste, SIMS, ion probe, trace elements, Sr, Mn, Fe, cathodololuminescence, growth zonation, fracture mineralisation, calcite, manganese oxide, Mn oxide, REE, rare earth elements, palaeohydrogeology, Yucca Mountain |
| Overview: | Cathdoluminescence study of fracture lining calcites from the Yucca Mountain research site revealed complex compositional growth zoning. The minor and trace element composition (REEs, Sr, Fe and Mn) of these zoned calcites have been analysed using SIMS. The minor and trace element chemistry can be correlated with the location of the calcite (i.e. differentiates between calcites precipitated in the upper unsaturated vs. deep unsaturated zone). These trace element compositions, which serve to fingerprint temporal changes in calcite crystallisation histories, can only be resolved by microbeam analytical techniques such as SIMS. The scavenging of LREE (particularly Ce) from calcite-precipitating fluids by manganese oxides is discussed as a mechanism for causing negative Ce anomalies (Ce-depletion) in unsaturated zone calcite. |