P. Stoffynegli et al., THE IDENTIFICATION OF BLACK CARBON PARTICLES WITH THE ANALYTICAL SCANNING ELECTRON-MICROSCOPE - METHODS AND INITIAL RESULTS, Science of the total environment, 198(3), 1997, pp. 211-223
Combustion of fossil fuel and vegetation produces large quantities of
black carbon particles (BCP) which are dispersed by winds over large a
reas. Once deposited in the sediment, BCP constitute an historic recor
d of anthropogenic activities and wildfires. For BCP to be significant
environmental indicators, it is necessary to determine their source a
s precisely as possible. A method has been developed to differentiate
BCP from other carbonaceous particles, and to assign them to coal, oil
, or biomass combustion using a scanning electron microscope equipped
with an elemental detector (Analytical Scanning Electron Microscope, A
SEM). BCP were identified in the ASEM as particles with an O/C atomic
ratio of less than 0.15. Morphology (shape and surface texture) and tr
ace element content (S and Cl) were used to classify BCP according to
source using samples of known origin (oil, coal and wood fly-ash) and
marine sediment samples from Halifax Inlet, which has undergone progre
ssive urbanisation and industrialization over the last 250 years. The
method is applicable to a wide size range of BCP and complete isolatio
n of the BCP from the rest of the sample is not necessary. (C) 1997 El
sevier Science B.V.