Determination of the microscopic mineralogy of inclusion in an amygdaloidal pillow basalt by fs-LIMS

Depth profiling and atomic intensity correlation studies on mineralogical inclusion embedded in calcium carbonate phase using a miniature laser mass spectrometer are presented. The method allows the determination of complex mineralogical phases.

Measurements of bio-signature in ancient micrometre-sized fossils with a miniature laser mass spectrometer

<p>Searches for the past and present life on the planetary surfaces will be involving multilevel characterisation of the planetary rocks and soils within potentially habitable environments. Some up to three billion years old stromatolites or fossilised bacterial colonies are particularly interesting. They are found on the Earth and thought to be earliest life forms preserved within the terrestrial sedimentary rocks and can be a benchmark for searches of bio-relevant objects on planetary surfaces. By combining the microscope-camera system and mass analyser one can identify micro-fossilised material within the rocks by means of specific morphological details and characteristic chemical composition. We discuss the results of the studies on ancient microfossils obtained by space-born instrumentation, microscope-camera system combined with laser mass spectrometer. Both, the microscope imaging and chemical analyses can be conducted with micrometre spatial resolution. We demonstrate that the morphological record is helpful but not sufficient to identify bio-relevant material. Yet, while combined with elemental and isotope and with help depth profiling method, the compositional analysis can distinguish between abiotic and biological nature of the material. Detection of biosignature in measurements of fossilised materials with a miniature laser ablation ionisation mass analyser.</p> <p> </p> <p>[1] M. Tulej, A. Neubeck, M. Ivarsson, A. Riedo, M.B. Neuland, S. Meyer, P. Wurz, Chemical Composition of Micrometer-Sized Filaments in an Aragonite Host by a Miniature Laser Ablation/Ionization Mass Spectrometer, Astrobiology, 15 (2015) 669-682.</p> <p>[2] A. Neubeck, M. Tulej, M. Ivarsson, C. Broman, A. Riedo, S. McMahon, P. Wurz, S. Bengtson, Mineralogical determination in situ of a highly heterogeneous material using a miniaturized laser ablation mass spectrometer with high spatial resolution, International Journal of Astrobiology, 15 (2016) 133-146.</p> <p>[3] R. Wiesendanger, D. Wacey, M. Tulej, A. Neubeck, M. Ivarsson, V. Grimaudo, P. Moreno-Garcia, A. Cedeno-Lopez, A. Riedo, P. Wurz, Chemical and optical identification of micrometer-sized 1.9 billion-year-old fossils by combining a miniature laser ablation ionization mass spectrometry system with an optical microscope, Astrobiology, 18 (2018) 1071-1080.</p> <p>[4] A. Riedo, A. Bieler, M. Neuland, M. Tulej, P. Wurz, Performance evaluation of a miniature laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometer designed for in situ investigations in planetary space research, Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 48 (2013) 1-15.</p> <p>[5] M. Tulej, A. Riedo, M.B. Neuland, S. Meyer, P. Wurz, N. Thomas, V. Grimaudo, P. Moreno-Garcia, P. Broekmann, A. Neubeck, M. Ivarsson, CAMAM: A Miniature Laser Ablation Ionisation Mass Spectrometer and Microscope-Camera System for In Situ Investigation of the Composition and Morphology of Extraterrestrial Materials, Geostand Geoanal Res, 38 (2014) 441-466.</p>

Investigation of PbMg target characteristics by a laser mass-spectrometer

Characteristics of two-element (PbMg) laser generated plasma ions were studied using a mass-spectrometer. It was found that increasing the fraction of Mg leads to widening of the energy spectra of Pb ions by more than a factor of two, while the intensity of Pb ions of all charge states does not depend on the Mg fraction. This effect is explained by the friction existing between light and heavy ions during their expansion away from the target.