09.06.2014

At the end of May the tagged neutron method (TNM) was tested in the rapid elemental analysis of typical rocks on the Olkhon geodynamic test ground on the bank of Lake Baikal.

The tests were performed with a quantity-produced DVIN–1 detector whose updated software allowed relative Si, Mg, Fe, Al, Ca, Ti, C, O, Na, and K concentrations to be determined. Three groups of rocks were analyzed: carbonate rocks (marbles and calciphyres, 17 samples), gneisses (23 samples), and amphibolites (7 samples). The samples were 20 to 50 cm in size with a mass of 2 to 6 kg. The measurements were typically 15 min long.

Identification of the samples from the TNM measurements totally agreed with the data of the mineralogical and petrographic investigations. The expert’s decision of the Institute of the Earth’s Crust signed by the Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences E. V. Sklyarov points out the following:
«The tagged neutron method holds good promise for analysis of rock samples in geological practice. Its advantages are rapidity, sample preparation free of any specific requirements, a possibility of determining the elemental composition deep in a rock, and a possibility of determining variations in components within the bulk of the rock directly on prospecting or mining sites.»