Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T19:49:26.674Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Progression from Optical Light Microscopy to Transmission Electron Microscopy in the Study of Soils

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

F. Van Oort ,
A. G. Jongmans  and
A. M. Jaunet
F. Van Oort
Affiliation:
Station de Science du Sol, INRA, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78026 CEDEX, Versailles, France
A. G. Jongmans
Affiliation:
Station de Science du Sol, INRA, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78026 CEDEX, Versailles, France
A. M. Jaunet
Affiliation:
Station de Science du Sol, INRA, Route de Saint-Cyr, 78026 CEDEX, Versailles, France
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The use of electron microscopy to study clay microfabrics in thin-sections is discussed. A technique is described to isolate undisturbed microparts of pedofeatures from thin-sections, which are subsequently used for TEM analysis. Re-embedding with a polyester resin of undisturbed, in situ, neoformed clay microfabrics, obtained by microdrilling and preparation of ultrathin sections by microtoming with a diamond knife are emphasized; these steps enable micromorphology, clay mineralogy, microchemical and HRTEM analysis to be performed on one unique microsample of clay fabrics, with conserved micro-organization. Two examples on clay neoformation are presented to demonstrate that this technique can successfully be applied to unravel the impact of mineral alteration and clay neoformation in undisturbed soil samples on a micro- and a nanometer scale.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 1994 , pp. 247 - 254
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banfield, J.F. & Eggleton, R.A. (1990) Analytical transmission electron microscope studies of plagioclase, muscovite and K-feldspar weathering. Clays Clay Miner, 38, 77–89.Google Scholar
Beauford, D., Dudoignon, P., Proust, D., Parneix, J.C. & Meunier, A. (1983) Microdrilling in thin sections: A useful method for identification of clay mineral. in situ. Clay Miner, 18, 219–222.Google Scholar
Bisdom, E.B.A. (editor) (1981) Sub microscopy of soils and weathered rocks. 1st workshop of the international working-group on submicroscopy of undisturbed soil ‘ materials 1980, Wageningen, The Netherlands. 320pp.Google Scholar
Bisdom, E.B.A., Tessier, D. & Schoute, J.F.Th. (1990) Micromorphological techniques in research and teaching (submicroscopy). Pp. 581-603 in: Soil Micromorphology: a Basic and Applied Science. (L.A. Douglas, editor). Developments in Soil Science 19, Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Bresson, L.M. (1981) Ion micromilling to the ultramicroscopic study of soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J, 45, 568–573.Google Scholar
Bullock, P., Fedoroff, N., Jongerius, A., Stoops, G. & Tursina, T. (1985) Handbook for Soil Thin Section Description. Waine Res. Pub., Albrighton, England.Google Scholar
Buurman, P. & Jongmans, A.G. (1987) Amorphous clay coatings in a lowland oxisol and other andesitic soils of East Java, Indonesia. Pemberitaan Penelitaan Tanah dan Pupuk 7, 31A0.Google Scholar
Chartres, C.J., Wood, A. & Pain, C.F. (1985) The development of micromorphological features in relation to some mineralogical and chemical properties of volcanic ash soils in highland Papua New Guinea. Aust. J. Soil Res, 23, 339–354.Google Scholar
Delivigne, J. (1983) Micromorphology of the alteration and weathering of pyroxenes in the Koua Bocca ultramafic intrusion, Ivory Coast, West Africa. Sci. Geol. Mem, 72, 57–68.Google Scholar
Delvigne, J. & Stoops, G. (1990) Morphology of mineral weathering and neoformation. I. Weathering of most common silicates. Pp. 471-181 in: Soil Micromorphology: a Basic and Applied Science. (L.A. Douglas, editor). Developments in Soil Science 19, Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Eggleton, R.A, (1987) Noncrystalline Fe-Si-Al oxyhydrox- ides. Clays Clay Miner, 35, 29–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feijtel, T.C., Jongmans, A.G. & Van Doesburg, J.D.J. (1989) Identification of clay coatings in an older Quaternary Terrace of the Allier, Limagne, France. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J, 53, 876–882.Google Scholar
FitzPatrick, E.A. (1970) A technique for the preparation of large thin sections of soil and consolidated material. Pp. 3-13 in: Micromorphological Techniques and Applications. (D.A. Osmond & P. Bullock, editors). Soil Survey Technical Monograph 2, Flarpenden, UK.Google Scholar
Jongmans, A.G., Feijtel, T.C., Miedema, R., van Breemen, N. & Veldkamp, A. (1991) Soil formation in a Quaternary terrace sequence of the Allier, Limagne, France. Macro- and micromorphology, particle size distribution, chemistry. Geoderm, 49, 215–239..Google Scholar
Meunier, A. & Velde, B. (1982) X-ray diffraction of oriented clays in small quantities (0.1 mg). Clay Miner, 17, 259–262..Google Scholar
Miedema, R., Pape, T. & van der Waal, G.J. (1974) A method to impregnate wet soil samples, producing high- quality thin sections. Neth. J. Agrie. Sci, 22, 37–39.Google Scholar
Nahon, D.B. & Colin, F. (1983) Chemical weathering of orthopyroxenes under lateritic conditions. Am. J. Sci, 282, 1232–1243.Google Scholar
van Oort, F. & Jaunet, A.-M. (1990) Origin, mineralogical behaviour and spatial distribution of 2:1 clay minerals in a ferrallitic soil cover on volcanic parent rock of Guadeloupe. Sci. Geol. Mem, 85, 205–213.Google Scholar
van Oort, F., Jongmans, A.G., Jaunet, A.M., van Does-burg, J.D.J., Elsass, F. & Feijtel, T.C. (1990) Characterization of clay formation in thin sections. A case study on halloysite neoformation in weathered pyroclastic parent rock in Guadeloupe. Trans. 14th Int. Congr. Soil Sci. Kyoto, Japan, 7, 100–105.Google Scholar
Tessier, D. (1984) Etude experimentale de Torganisation des materiaux argileux. Hydration, gonflement et structuration au cours de la dessiccation et de la rehumectation. These, Univ. Paris VII, France.Google Scholar
Velbel, M.A. (1989) Weathering of hornblende to ferruginous products by a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism: petrography and stoichiometry. Clays Clay Miner, 37, 515–524.Google Scholar
Verschure, R.H. (1978) A microscope-mounted drill to isolate microgram quantities of mineral material from polished thin sections. Mineral. Mag, 42, 499–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wada, K. (1980) Mineralogical characteristics of Andisols. Pp. 87-107 in: Soils with Variable Charge. (B.K.G. Theng, editor) N.Z. Soc. Soil Sci., Soil Bureau, DSIR, Lower Hutt, New Zealand.Google Scholar