The Si/Al ratio and the Ca-Si-Fe-K-Na composite images reveal the highly heterogeneous composition of a natural mineral concretion at the micrometer scale. Now upgraded with a radio frequency plasma oxygen source, the NanoSIMS 50L ion microprobe at Technical University of Munich enables novel analytical approaches in soil sciences. Its ultra-high spatial resolution and its superior brightness provide ultra-fine elemental and isotopic composition of soil constituents.
Recorded on a CAMECA NanoSIMS 50L at the Chair of Soil Science, Technical University of Munich, Germany. Image courtesy of Gertraud Harrington and Carmen Höschen.
Sample provided by W. Häusler.