Avaatech XRF

Large metallic machine with curved top and window in front. Avaatech logo on front.
Avaatech X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) core-scanner.

Analytical x-ray facility

We now have

  • a 6th Generation Avaatech X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) core-scanner (http://www.avaatech.com/)  that was installed in Ocober 2023
  • the GeoTek MSCL-XR x-ray imaging machine (http://www.geotek.co.uk/) is currently not functioning; pending funding to upgrade.

The Avaatech XRF performs non-destructive analysis of elements Mg through U. The samples we measure with the XRF range from split cores (both marine and lacustrine), slabbed cores, U-channel samples, tree cores, coral slabs, rock slabs and discrete samples. Samples can be scanned at a resolution of 0.1mm to 10mm, so even the finest laminations in sediment cores can be accounted for individually. The XRF also has a Line Scan camera that generates very high definition images of samples. The new line scan camera can image samples in regular and UV light. Color data, in the form of RGB and CIE, can also be pulled from these images for use in analyses, such as changes in lithology or deposition type. This new generation core scanner also has a magnetic susceptibility sensor, which measures the degree to which the sediments are magnetized. In the XRF, the sample stays stationary, while the x-ray source and detector , Line Scan camera and magnetic susceptibility sensor pass over the sample during scanning , imaging, and sensing respectively. The XRF is available for use by researchers both inside and outside Scripps/UCSD. You can request that cores from the Scripps collection be scanned, or you can bring your own material for scanning. The collections manager can scan your cores, or you can be trained on the XRF to scan yourself. Both options will incur a fee. 

To find more information about using the XRF and what the associated costs are, contact:

Alex Hangsterfer, Collections Manager.
Email: ahangsterfer@ucsd.edu