Quantitative determination of minerals in Nevada Test Site samples by x-ray diffraction

Conference · Fri Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1983

OSTI ID:5760932

Pawloski, G A

The external standard intensity ratio technique has been developed into a routine procedure for quantitatively determining mineralogic compositions of Nevada Test Site (NTS) samples by x-ray diffraction. This technique used ratios of x-ray intensity peaks from the same run which eliminates many possible errors. Constants have been determined for each of thirteen minerals commonly found in NTS samples - quartz, montmorillonite, illite, clinoptilolite, cristobalite, feldspars, calcite, dolomite, hornblende, kaolinite, muscovite, biotite, and amorphous glass. Ratios of the highest intensity peak of each mineral to be quantified in the sample and the highest intensity peak of quartz are used to calculate sample composition. The technique has been tested on samples with three to eleven components representative of geologic environments at NTS, and is accurate to 7.0 wt % of the total sample. The minimum amount of each of these minerals detectable by x-ray diffraction has also been determined. QUANTS is a computer code that calculates mineral contents and produces a report sheet. Constants for minerals in NTS samples other than those listed above can easily be determined, and added to QUANTS at any time.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5760932
• Report Number(s): UCRL-89414; CONF-830882-5; ON: DE83016574
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
400103 -- Radiometric & Radiochemical Procedures-- (-1987)
58 GEOSCIENCES
580300* -- Mineralogy
Petrology
& Rock Mechanics-- (-1989)
COHERENT SCATTERING
COMPUTER CODES
DIFFRACTION
MINERALOGY
MINERALS
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NEVADA TEST SITE
SCATTERING
US DOE
US ORGANIZATIONS
X-RAY DIFFRACTION