Electron beam analytical instruments and the determination of modes,spatial variations of minerals and textural features of rocks in polished section

Point counts based on X-ray intensities collected with an automated electron beam analytical instrument can be used to estimate the accurate modes required by modern physical-chemical modelling of rock-forming processes. In addition, the spatial distributions of mineral species and mineral compositions can be extracted from the coordinates of the point counting grid. Statistical tests of whether the mineral and porosity distributions are uniform can be performed by comparing the results from subareas of the polished section. The separate and composite contributions of the mineral phases to the texture and structure of the rock can be visually represented with mineral distribution maps. Qualitative differences in grain size can be recognized because the nonzero, finite electron beam diameter can detect grain boundaries. Spots on the minerals are identified by comparing the ranking of X-ray intensities with the ranking of intensities on a set of standards. For example, this method identified more than 88% of the spots on the surface of a polished section of an alkali olivine basalt. A small additional number of spots, approximately 1%, were identified because their spectra were dominated by the X-ray intensities of two characteristic elements. This method was particularly efficient in identifying phases with a small grain size and simple chemistry, e.g. apatite. The modal amounts of an alkali olivine basalt obtained with a microprobe are within approximately one standard deviation of the results obtained by point counting the same areas of the polished section under reflected and transmitted light if the minerals are major constituents and occur only in the groundmass. Accessory and phenocryst phases agree to within approximately three standard deviations.