Field emission gun electronprobe microanalysis (FEG-EPMA) provides the analyst with the opportunity to characterize very small volumes of material. Using a low voltage source the irradiated volume is submicron. It is well known that some geological phases e.g. volcanic glass, carbonates, phosphates, hydrous silicates suffer beam damage under high beam current condition [e.g.1,2] and several aut...

Pillow lava rims from the Mesoarchean Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa contain micrometer-scale mineralized tubes that provide evidence of submarine microbial activity during the early history of Earth. The tubes formed during microbial etching of glass along fractures, as seen in pillow lavas from recent oceanic crust. The margins of the tubes contain organic carbon, and many of the p...

The natural chemical and physical variations that occur within volcanic rocks (petrology) provide critical insights into mantle crust conditions on terrestrial bodies. Visible/near-infrared (VNIR; 0.3–2.5 ?m) thermal infrared (TIR; 5–50 spectroscopy are the main tools available to remotely characterize these materials from satellites in orbit. However, accuracy of petrologic information can be ...