Interpretation of Fe K XANES Pre-Edge Spectra of Hematite

Based on Cobalt Optical Spectra


SR Sutton1,2, MD Dyar 3, JS Delaney4, M Newville1. GR Rossman5


1GeoSoilEnviroCARS, and 2 Department of Geophysical Sciences, The University of Chicago, IL, U.S.A
3Department of Earth and Environment, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, U.S.A
4Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, U.S.A
5Division of Geological and Planetary Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A

Abstract

Microanalysis of Fe 3+/ΣFe is an important goal in undestanding the redox histories of terrestrial and extraterrestrial planetary materials. Our work explores the suitability of the synchrotron micro x-ray absosprtion near-edge structure (XANES) technique for this purpose. High-resolution XANES measurements have been reported on powders and glasses,1,2 but proper interpretation of pre-edge peak multiplicity remains problematic. In this study, we tested the predictive capabilities of the “Z+1” model by comparing Fe K-XANES pre-edge spectra of hematite (corundum structure) with Co optical spectra of corundum. This approach would allow use of Co optical spectra to predict the multiplicity, orientational effects, and energy of valence electron levels in Fe XANES spectra of other important minerals.