Chemical Analysis of Minerals

This chapter provides an overview of the various analytical techniques used by mineralogists to determine the chemical makeup of minerals. Often, several different techniques must be used to conclusively determine the chemical formula for a mineral. An overview of 11 different analytical methods is provided, with detailed citations noted for additional reading. The chapter emphasizes how each technique contributes information to help understand mineral composition.

Topics covered in Chapter 9 include:

Wet Chemical Analysis
"Water Content" of Minerals and Hydrogen Extraction
Inductively-Coupled Plasma (ICP) and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS)
X-ray Fluorescence (XRF)
Electron Microprobe and the Scanning Electron Microscopy
Ion Microprobes
Proton-Induced Emission Spectroscopy
Neutron Activation Analysis
Mössbauer Spectroscopy
Visible and Infrared Spectroscopy
Raman Spectroscopy