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Visualizing mineralization processes and fossil anatomy using synchronous synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction mapping
Journal article

Visualizing mineralization processes and fossil anatomy using synchronous synchrotron X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction mapping

  • Gueriau, Pierre ORCID Institute of Earth Sciences, University of Lausanne, Géopolis, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Réguer, Solenn Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
  • Leclercq, Nicolas Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
  • Cupello, Camila ORCID Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia/IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, R. São Francisco Xavier, 524-Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
  • Brito, Paulo M. ORCID Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia/IBRAG, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, R. São Francisco Xavier, 524-Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro 20550-900, Brazil
  • Jauvion, Clément ORCID Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie—Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
  • Morel, Séverin Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie—Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
  • Charbonnier, Sylvain Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie—Paris (CR2P UMR 7207), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 57 rue Cuvier, CP38, 75005 Paris, France
  • Thiaudière, Dominique Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
  • Mocuta, Cristian ORCID Synchrotron SOLEIL, L'orme des Merisiers, Saint-Aubin BP 48, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France
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  • 2020-8-26
Published in:
  • Journal of The Royal Society Interface. - The Royal Society. - 2020, vol. 17, no. 169, p. 20200216
Biotechnology
Biophysics
Biochemistry
Bioengineering
Biomaterials
Biomedical Engineering
English Fossils, including those that occasionally preserve decay-prone soft tissues, are mostly made of minerals. Accessing their chemical composition provides unique insight into their past biology and/or the mechanisms by which they preserve, leading to a series of developments in chemical and elemental imaging. However, the mineral composition of fossils, particularly where soft tissues are preserved, is often only inferred indirectly from elemental data, while X-ray diffraction that specifically provides phase identification received little attention. Here, we show the use of synchrotron radiation to generate not only X-ray fluorescence elemental maps of a fossil, but also mineralogical maps in transmission geometry using a two-dimensional area detector placed behind the fossil. This innovative approach was applied to millimetre-thick cross-sections prepared through three-dimensionally preserved fossils, as well as to compressed fossils. It identifies and maps mineral phases and their distribution at the microscale over centimetre-sized areas, benefitting from the elemental information collected synchronously, and further informs on texture (preferential orientation), crystallite size and local strain. Probing such crystallographic information is instrumental in defining mineralization sequences, reconstructing the fossilization environment and constraining preservation biases. Similarly, this approach could potentially provide new knowledge on other (bio)mineralization processes in environmental sciences. We also illustrate that mineralogical contrasts between fossil tissues and/or the encasing sedimentary matrix can be used to visualize hidden anatomies in fossils.
Language
  • English
Open access status
green
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/150482
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