2025/06/17 by Edoardo Sanità, Maria Di Rosa, Enrico Mugnaioli · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Materials Science · #Clay minerals and soil interactions #Geological and Geochemical Analysis #High-pressure geophysics and materials
paper · pdf · doi:10.5194/ejm-37-343-2025
openalex publication_date 2025/06/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract. Chemical compositions of mineral phases obtained using a common electron probe micro-analyzer are generally used in many fields of geosciences, like the reconstruction of pressure–temperature paths, because their accuracy ensures high-quality data. However, on submicrometric mineral phases, mostly present in low-grade rocks, the chemical analysis can be contaminated by the surrounding. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy coupled with a transmission electron microscope is demonstrated to be a valid alternative approach to get high-quality data on submicrometric phases. In this work, we use this approach for geobarometric application on white mica-rich low-grade metapelites from the Internal Ligurian Units (Northern Apennines). Our pressure estimates gave satisfactory results supporting previously geobarometric constraints performed on the same rock samples. The innovative methodological procedure used in this work confirms the tectonic scenario proposed for the Internal Ligurian Units.