An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa
An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used to study the spectra from fossils and surrounding rock recovered from the Cradle of Mankind site at Malapa, South Africa. The objective was to find a suitable spectral line(s), specific to fossils, which could be used as a control signal to limit damage to fossils during high speed laser removal of the encasing rock. The calcified clastic matrix (rock) encasing the fossils was found to emit a variety of complex LIBS spectra. Nevertheless, it was found possible to distinguish fossils in a single LIBS pulse, and without significant damage to the fossil, using spectral lines of neutral phosphorus.
Reference:
Roberts, D.E, Du Plessis, A, Steyn, J, Botha, L.R, Pityana, S and Berger, LR. 2012. An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa. Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, vol. 73, pp. 48–54
Roberts, D., Du Plessis, A., Steyn, J., Botha, L., Pityana, S. L., & Berger, L. (2012). An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6665
Roberts, DE, A Du Plessis, J Steyn, LR Botha, Sisa L Pityana, and LR Berger "An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa." (2012) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6665
Roberts D, Du Plessis A, Steyn J, Botha L, Pityana SL, Berger L. An investigation of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for use as a control in the laser removal of rock from fossils found at the Malapa hominin site, South Africa. 2012; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/6665.
Copyright: 2012 Elsevier. This is an ABSTRACT ONLY. The definitive version is published in Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, vol. 73, pp 48- 54
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