A Novel Method to Obtain Grain Size Distributions of Intact Rock Samples Using X-Ray Fluorescence Spectra

Abstract

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is one of the most preferred method preferent methods for elemental analysis and the recent rapid development in spectroscopy has ushered in new ways to look at data generated by most XRF setups beyond the current conventional usage. We hypothesized that particle size and morphology of rock samples can influence fluorescence spectra acquisition. Such interference if analyzed, can unravel new usage for XRF spectra. In this study, we propose the use of raw XRF spectra data for the determination of grain size by superimposition and multiple spectra-cross plots technique. The other known methods of measuring grain size (GS) depending on whether samples are loose or consolidated, include laser granulometry, sieve, and image analyses. Most of these methods have known limitations in their application on an intact rock. The proposed method is designed to address these individual challenges.