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Synchrotron {mu}-XRF determination of element distribution in fossilized sauropod bones

Abstract

Full text: Sauropod dinosaurs were typically one magnitude larger than any other living or extinct terrestrial animal. This sheer size of the sauropod leads to scale effects in their biology and physiology that still are only inadequately understood. The primary remnants of the sauropods are their fossilized bones. These fossilized bones have sustained burial for some hundred million years and thus may have experienced significant diagenetic changes which are not affecting bone preservation at the histological level, but lead to significant alterations of the bone microstructure at the sub histological level. We investigated the influence of diagenesis on the microstructure of fossilized sauropod bones using bone cross sections of Brachiosaurus brancai and Barosaurus africanus long bones (femura and humeri) that were excavated from the Tendaguru beds in Tanzania. The change in chemical composition due to interactions between bone and sediments was characterized by synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis (SR l'-XRF) in confocal geometry. Measurements have been carried out at the micro-focus end-station at HASYLAB beamline L using a monochromatic synchrotron beam from a bending magnet at 17.2 KEXV. The high spatial resolution achievable using this variant of SR l'-XRF revealed two-dimensional element maps of U, Sr, Pb, Fe, Cu, Mn, V,  More>>
Authors:
Zoeger, N; Wobrauschek, P; Streli, C; Jokubonis, C; [1]  Pepponi, G; [2]  FalKEXnberg, G; [3]  Sander, P M; [4]  Ferreyro, R; Pyzalla, A R [5] 
  1. TU Wien, Atominstitiut der Oesterreichischen Universitaeten, Stadionallee 2, A-1020 Wien (Austria)
  2. ITC-irst, Centro per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica, via Sommarive 18, 38050 Povo, Trento (Italy)
  3. Hamburger Synchrotronstrahlungslabor HASYLAB am Deutschen Elektronen-Synchrotron, NotKEXstr. 85, 22603 Hamburg (Germany)
  4. Institute for Paleontology, University of Bonn, Nussallee 8, D-53115 Bonn (Germany)
  5. TU Wien, Institute of Material Science and Technology, Karlsplatz 13-308, A-1040 Wien (Austria)
Publication Date:
Jul 01, 2005
Product Type:
Conference
Report Number:
INIS-AT-0068
Resource Relation:
Conference: 55. Annual symposium of the Austrian Physical Society, 55. Jahrestagung der Oesterreichischen Physikalischen Gesellschaft, Vienna (Austria), 27-29 Sep 2005; Related Information: In: 55. Annual symposium of the Austrian Physical Society. Abstracts, 55. Jahrestagung der Oesterreichischen Physikalischen Gesellschaft. Kurzfassungen, by Vogl, G.; Sepiol, B. [Inst. fuer Materialphysik, Fakultaet fuer Physik, Universitaet Wien, Strudlhofgasse 4, 1090 Wien (Austria)] (ed.), 206 pages.
Subject:
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; CHROMIUM; COBALT; DIAGENESIS; ELEMENT ABUNDANCE; FOSSILS; IRON; KEV RANGE 10-100; LEAD; MANGANESE; MICROSTRUCTURE; MULTI-ELEMENT ANALYSIS; SPATIAL RESOLUTION; STRONTIUM; SYNCHROTRON RADIATION; UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA; URANIUM; VANADIUM; X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS
Sponsoring Organizations:
AVL List GmbH (Austria); Bank Austria Creditanstalt (Austria); Bundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur (Austria); COHERENT Deutschland GmbH (Germany); COST-European Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (Belgium); Cryophysics GmbH (Germany); Dr. Juergen Christian Mueller Vakuum-/Duennschicht-Technik (Germany); MaTEcK GmbH (Germany); MechOnics ag (Germany); Mikropack GmbH (Germany); Nanofilm Technologie GmbH (Germany); Newport (United States); Oldenburg Wissenschaftsverlag (Germany); SECS GmbH (Germany); Sepctra-Physics GmbH (United States); VACOM Vakuum Komponenten & Messtechnik GmbH (Germany); VARIAN Vacuum Technologies (United States); VAT Deutschland GmbH (Germany)
OSTI ID:
20779846
Research Organizations:
Fakultaet fuer Physik, Universitaet Wien (Austria); Oesterreichische Physikalische Gesellschaft (Austria)
Country of Origin:
Austria
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: AT0600361084309
Availability:
Available in abstract form only, full text entered in this record
Submitting Site:
INIS
Size:
page(s) 163
Announcement Date:
Nov 06, 2006

Citation Formats

Zoeger, N, Wobrauschek, P, Streli, C, Jokubonis, C, Pepponi, G, FalKEXnberg, G, Sander, P M, Ferreyro, R, and Pyzalla, A R. Synchrotron {mu}-XRF determination of element distribution in fossilized sauropod bones. Austria: N. p., 2005. Web.
Zoeger, N, Wobrauschek, P, Streli, C, Jokubonis, C, Pepponi, G, FalKEXnberg, G, Sander, P M, Ferreyro, R, & Pyzalla, A R. Synchrotron {mu}-XRF determination of element distribution in fossilized sauropod bones. Austria.
Zoeger, N, Wobrauschek, P, Streli, C, Jokubonis, C, Pepponi, G, FalKEXnberg, G, Sander, P M, Ferreyro, R, and Pyzalla, A R. 2005. "Synchrotron {mu}-XRF determination of element distribution in fossilized sauropod bones." Austria.
@misc{etde_20779846,
title = {Synchrotron {mu}-XRF determination of element distribution in fossilized sauropod bones}
author = {Zoeger, N, Wobrauschek, P, Streli, C, Jokubonis, C, Pepponi, G, FalKEXnberg, G, Sander, P M, Ferreyro, R, and Pyzalla, A R}
abstractNote = {Full text: Sauropod dinosaurs were typically one magnitude larger than any other living or extinct terrestrial animal. This sheer size of the sauropod leads to scale effects in their biology and physiology that still are only inadequately understood. The primary remnants of the sauropods are their fossilized bones. These fossilized bones have sustained burial for some hundred million years and thus may have experienced significant diagenetic changes which are not affecting bone preservation at the histological level, but lead to significant alterations of the bone microstructure at the sub histological level. We investigated the influence of diagenesis on the microstructure of fossilized sauropod bones using bone cross sections of Brachiosaurus brancai and Barosaurus africanus long bones (femura and humeri) that were excavated from the Tendaguru beds in Tanzania. The change in chemical composition due to interactions between bone and sediments was characterized by synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence analysis (SR l'-XRF) in confocal geometry. Measurements have been carried out at the micro-focus end-station at HASYLAB beamline L using a monochromatic synchrotron beam from a bending magnet at 17.2 KEXV. The high spatial resolution achievable using this variant of SR l'-XRF revealed two-dimensional element maps of U, Sr, Pb, Fe, Cu, Mn, V, Cr, Co in the fluorapatite of the fossilized bone and in the calcite filling of the bone cavities. The results show distinct differences in the spatial distribution of these elements. The inhomogeneities of the element distribution observed in the dinosaur bone thus give some indications about the interdiffusion between the bone and its environment. (author)}
place = {Austria}
year = {2005}
month = {Jul}
}