Steven Sutton

Bio: Steven Sutton is an academic researcher from Argonne National Laboratory. The author has contributed to research in topics: Cosmic dust & Interstellar medium. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 17 publications receiving 625 citations. Previous affiliations of Steven Sutton include University of Chicago.

Redox ratios with relevant resolution: Solving an old problem by using the synchrotron microXANES probe

Abstract: In situ measurements of the oxidation state of iron in common minerals have been made by using the synchrotron microXANES (SmX) technique. The results compare very well with wet-chemical and Mossbauer spectroscopic analyses of the same samples. Areas of 10 × 20 µm have been measured successfully, and the results demonstrate that both zoning of Fe3+ and the effect of oxide inclusions on bulk analyses can be quantified. Such sample heterogeneity cannot be detected by conventional bulk analytical techniques. The ability to measure Fe3+/ΣFe with spatial resolution comparable to that of the electron probe further enhances the importance of microbeam techniques in the earth and planetary sciences. Direct measurements of elemental oxidation states that can constrain oxidation-reduction processes are now possible with close to the spatial resolution of traditional compositional analyses derived from electron, or ion, beam and optical microscopic techniques. New, more intense, synchrotron sources such as the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, are becoming available for analyses of 1–10 µm areas.

Application of a new vanadium valence oxybarometer to basaltic glasses from the Earth, Moon, and Mars

Abstract: The redox states of volcanic and impact melts from the Earth, Moon, and Mars have been estimated from the valence state of V in basaltic glasses (Sutton et al. 2005). The V valence has been determined using synchrotron micro X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) (Sutton et al. 2005), which allows for in situ measurements on samples with a micrometer spatial resolution and ~100 ppm elemental sensitivity. Here, we interpret those results for the natural samples and compare them to the literature. The results show that terrestrial melts are dominated by V 4+ , lunar samples by V 3+ , with Martian melts a mixture of both V 3+ and V 4+ . The f O 2 estimates derived from the V valence are consistent with those determined by other proven methods, whereby terrestrial basalts experience f O 2 conditions within 1 or 2 log units of the QFM buffer, lunar basalts equilibrate at 1 to 2 log units below the IW buffer, and Martian basalts fall somewhere between the QFM and IW buffer. The results illustrate the usefulness of this technique; i.e., a robust oxybarometer covering over six orders of magnitude, applicable to samples that record f O 2 conditions from reduced extraterrestrial bodies to the oxidized Earth.

Fe XANES spectra of iron-rich micas

Abstract: Fe-rich mica crystals have been studied using microbeam XANES spectroscopy of the Fe K edges in order to evaluate the dependence of XANES features and resultant Fe 3+ /σFe values on the orientation of the crystals with respect to the polarization of the synchrotron beam. Polished, thinned samples were prepared with cleavages perpendicular to the plane of their thin sections, and these sections were then rotated relative to the horizontal plane of the ring and the 10 × 15 μm beam. Results show that both pre-edge and main-edge features in these micas exhibit orientation-dependent changes in both peak intensity and energy. These shifts constitute the majority of the error (∼ ± 10%) in determinations of Fe 3+ /σFe by pre-edge energy, a problem that will be overcome in future work through techniques for quantification of grain orientations. Results show distinctive orientation-dependent features in the main edge region, from which it will soon be possible to deconvolute contributions from multiple scattering interactions to obtain information about the electronic properties of micas. Data also demonstrate the exciting potential of XANES pre-edge spectroscopy for routine, in situ analyses of Fe 3+ /σFe on comparable scales to electron microprobe analyses.

Final reports of the Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination

Abstract: With the discovery of bona fide extraterrestrial materials in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector, NASA now has a fundamentally new returned sample collection, after the Apollo, Antarctic meteorite, Cosmic Dust, Genesis, Stardust Cometary, Hayabusa, and Exposed Space Hardware samples. Here, and in companion papers in this volume, we present the results from the Preliminary Examination of this collection, the Stardust Interstellar Preliminary Examination (ISPE). We found extraterrestrial materials in two tracks in aerogel whose trajectories and morphology are consistent with an origin in the interstellar dust stream, and in residues in four impacts in the aluminum foil collectors. While the preponderance of evidence, described in detail in companion papers in this volume, points toward an interstellar origin for some of these particles, alternative origins have not yet been eliminated, and definitive tests through isotopic analyses were not allowed under the terms of the ISPE. In this summary, we answer the central questions of the ISPE: How many tracks in the collector are consistent in their morphology and trajectory with interstellar particles? How many of these potential tracks are consistent with real interstellar particles, based on chemical analysis? Conversely, what fraction of candidates are consistent with either a secondary or interplanetary origin? What is the mass distribution of these particles, and what is their state? Are they particulate or diffuse? Is there any crystalline material? How many detectable impact craters (> 100 nm) are there in the foils, and what is their size distribution? How many of these craters have analyzable residue that is consistent with extraterrestrial material? And finally, can craters from secondaries be recognized through crater morphology (e.g., ellipticity)?

Oxidation state and coordination of Fe in minerals: An Fe K-XANES spectroscopic study

Abstract: High-resolution Fe K-edge XANES spectra of a series of crystalline Fe 2+ - and Fe 3+ -bearing model compounds were measured in an effort to correlate characteristics of the pre-edge feature with oxidation state and local coordination environment of Fe atoms. The model compounds comprise 30 natural minerals and synthetic compounds, with Fe coordination environments ranging from 4 to 12 O atoms for Fe 2+ , including 5-coordinated trigonal bipyramidal Fe 2+ , and from 4 to 6 O atoms for Fe 3+ . Most pre-edge spectra show two components (due to crystal-field splitting) that are located just above the Fermi level. The most useful characteristics of the Fe-K pre-edge for determining Fe oxidation state and coordination number are the position of its centroid and its integrated intensity. The separation between the average pre-edge centroid positions for Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ is 1.4 ± 0.1 eV. Thus, the position of the pre-edge feature can be used as a measure of the average Fe-redox state, with the average pre-edge position for mixed Fe 2+ -Fe 3+ compounds occurring between positions for Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ . The lowest pre-edge normalized heights and integrated intensities are observed for the most centrosymmetric sites of Fe, in agreement with previous studies (see Waychunas et al. 1983). Examination of the pre-edge features of mechanical mixtures of phases containing different proportions of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ suggests that the pre-edge position and intensity for these mixtures can vary quite non-linearly with the average redox state of Fe. However, distinctly different trends of pre-edge position vs. pre-edge intensity can be observed, depending on the coordination environment of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ , with an accuracy in redox determination of ±10 mol% provided that the site geometry for each redox state is known. These methods have been used to estimate the Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ ratio in 12 minerals (magnetite, vesuvianite, franklinite, rhodonite, etc.) containing variable/unknown amounts of Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ .

Fore-arc basalts and subduction initiation in the Izu-Bonin-Mariana system

Abstract: Recent diving with the JAMSTEC Shinkai 6500 manned submersible in the Mariana fore arc southeast of Guam has discovered that MORB-like tholeiitic basalts crop out over large areas These ''fore-arc basalts'' (FAB) underlie boninites and overlie diabasic and gabbroic rocks Potential origins include eruption at a spreading center before subduction began or eruption during near-trench spreading after subduction began FAB trace element patterns are similar to those of MORB and most Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) back-arc lavas However, Ti/V and Yb/V ratios are lower in FAB reflecting a stronger prior depletion of their mantle source compared to the source of basalts from mid-ocean ridges and back-arc basins Some FAB also have higher concentrations of fluid-soluble elements than do spreading center lavas Thus, the most likely origin of FAB is that they were the first lavas to erupt when the Pacific Plate began sinking beneath the Philippine Plate at about 51 Ma The magmas were generated by mantle decompression during near-trench spreading with little or no mass transfer from the subducting plate Boninites were generated later when the residual, highly depleted mantle melted at shallow levels after fluxing by a water-rich fluid derived from the sinking Pacific Plate This magmatic stratigraphy of FAB overlain by transitional lavas and boninites is similar to that found in many ophiolites, suggesting that ophiolitic assemblages might commonly originate from near-trench volcanism caused by subduction initiation Indeed, the widely dispersed Jurassic and Cretaceous Tethyan ophiolites could represent two such significant subduction initiation events

Quantitative Speciation of Heavy Metals in Soils and Sediments by Synchrotron X-ray Techniques

Abstract: Human societies have, in all ages, modified the original form of metals and metalloids in their living environment for their survival and technical development. In many cases, these anthropogenic activities have resulted in the release into the environment of contaminants that pose a threat to ecosystems and public health. Examples of local and global pollution are legion worldwide, and the reader of the environmental science literature is forever faced with ever more alarming reports on hazards due to toxic metals. For example, extensive mining and associated industrial activities have introduced large amounts of metal contaminants in nature at the local, but also global, scale since anthropogenic metals are detected in remote areas including Greenland ice (Boutron et al. 1991). Industrialized countries have countless polluted sites, and the major consequence in terms of contamination by heavy metals are areas of wasteland and sources of acid and metal-rich runoff from tailings piles and waste-rock heaps, and the subsequent pollution of coastal areas. Water supplies in many areas of many countries are also extensively polluted or threatened by high concentration of metal(loid)s, sometimes from natural sources, but most often from the activities of humans (Smedley and Kinniburgh 2002). Pollution of ground and surface waters, and hence of lands, by arsenic from alluvial aquifers in the Bengal Delta plain and in Vietnam are probably the two most catastrophic actual examples of the second type, where a modification of the chemistry of deep sediment layers by intensive well drillings and pumping of drinking water has led to vast arsenic remobilization and poisoning of ecosystems (Chatterjee et al. 1995; Nickson et al. 1998; Berg et al. 2001). Soils and sediments, being at the interface between the geosphere, the atmosphere, the biosphere and the hydrosphere, represent the major sinks for anthropogenic metals released to …

Arsenic contamination of groundwater: a review of sources, prevalence, health risks, and strategies for mitigation.

Abstract: Arsenic contamination of groundwater in different parts of the world is an outcome of natural and/or anthropogenic sources, leading to adverse effects on human health and ecosystem. Millions of people from different countries are heavily dependent on groundwater containing elevated level of As for drinking purposes. As contamination of groundwater, poses a serious risk to human health. Excessive and prolonged exposure of inorganic As with drinking water is causing arsenicosis, a deteriorating and disabling disease characterized by skin lesions and pigmentation of the skin, patches on palm of the hands and soles of the feet. Arsenic poisoning culminates into potentially fatal diseases like skin and internal cancers. This paper reviews sources, speciation, and mobility of As and global overview of groundwater As contamination. The paper also critically reviews the As led human health risks, its uptake, metabolism, and toxicity mechanisms. The paper provides an overview of the state-of-the-art knowledge on the alternative As free drinking water and various technologies (oxidation, coagulation flocculation, adsorption, and microbial) for mitigation of the problem of As contamination of groundwater.