Studying the spatial variability of Cr in agricultural field using both particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) technique

In the field of soil physics, a technique which permits a non-destructive, accurate and fast elemental analysis with a minimum of sample preparation effort is often desired. Although trace elements are minor components of the solid phase, they play an important role in soil fertility. Cr is of nutri...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section B, Beam interactions with materials and atoms Vol. 109; pp. 247 - 251
Main Authors: Cruvinel, Paulo E., Crestana, Sílvio, Artaxo, Paulo, Martins, JoséV., Armelin, Maria JoséA.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 01-04-1996
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In the field of soil physics, a technique which permits a non-destructive, accurate and fast elemental analysis with a minimum of sample preparation effort is often desired. Although trace elements are minor components of the solid phase, they play an important role in soil fertility. Cr is of nutritional importance because it is a required element in human and animal nutrition. The immobility of Cr may be responsible for an inadequate Cr supply to plants. This work not only demonstrates the suitability of PIXE as a fast and non-destructive technique, useful to measure Cr content in soil samples, but also outlines a study of spatial variability of that element in agricultural field. To demonstrate the capability of the method soil samples were collected in a 5000 m 2 agricultural field. The soil samples were analyzed using both PIXE and INAA techniques. Besides, a Fourier interpolation technique was used to verify the distribution of Cr along of the sampled field. INAA was carried out by means of the γ-ray emitted by 51Cr(320 keV). Results show that there is a good linear relationship between the elemental concentration of Cr obtained using those techniques, i.e. a correlation coefficient of r 2 = 0.82 was achieved.
ISSN:0168-583X
1872-9584
DOI:10.1016/0168-583X(95)00916-7