We are pleased to invite you to our upcoming 1-day workshop at Goldschmidt 2025.

This one-day workshop will highlight soft and tender X-ray STXM and nanoprobe beamlines supported by SEES at ALS and SSRL:

What you will learn

This workshop will provide practical guidance for new users interested in X-ray microscopic and spectroscopic instruments as well as suggest various pathways and advanced methodologies for experienced users.

The registration deadline is May 21, 2025.

Synchrotron-based X-ray spectroscopic and microscopic techniques offer capabilities to investigate micro- and nano-scale geochemical processes in Earth surface systems. Up to now, the low-temperature geochemical community has largely accessed hard X-ray instruments to study the reactivity and transport of geogenic and anthropogenic contaminants such as arsenic, uranium, and mercury. Understanding how these contaminants link to light elements (e.g., carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) and other key environmental reactions (e.g., biogeochemical nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and (bio)mineralization) requires the use of soft and tender X-ray techniques.

In this workshop, we will introduce an exciting new suite of programs where participants can increase their access to soft and tender X-ray techniques for geochemical research. The “Synergy of Soft and Tender X-rays for Earth Research” (SYSTER) program at the Advanced Light Source (ALS; Berkeley, CA, USA) and the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL; Menlo Park, CA, USA), subcomponents of the US National Science Foundation-awarded “Synchrotron Earth and Environmental Science” (SEES) program, aims to provide Earth and Environmental Science (EES) synchrotron users with access to soft and tender X-ray beamline, while also developing new end-stations to promote EES research. This workshop is for new and current synchrotron users interested in increasing their skill sets.

In this one-day workshop, we will focus on X-ray micro- and nano-probe beamlines with SEES support at ALS and SSRL: (1) ALS 5.3.2.2 (soft X-ray optimized STXM), (2) ALS COSMIC 7.0.1.2 (soft to tender X-rays with high spatial resolution by ptychography), (3) ALS 11.0.2.2 (soft to tender X-ray STXM with capability of characterizing magnetic properties), and (4) SSRL Beamline 14-3b (tender X-ray microprobe). The soft X-ray beamlines offer an energy range of 0.2 – 0.8 keV which enables the study of elemental composition and speciation of relatively light elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and potassium which are essential elements for life. The tender X-ray beamlines provide an energy range of up to 5 keV, enabling the analysis of a wide range of major elements, trace metal nutrients, and heavy metal contaminants.
We will discuss the feasible elements to detect and the applications of image analysis and ptychography for Earth and environmental samples. We will also deliver a practical workflow for beamline experiments, including proposal preparation, sample preparation (e.g., controlling thickness and concentration), general operation, and data analysis strategies. We will highlight examples of imaging and spectroscopic analysis of natural samples using multiple detection modes (multimodal analysis) and multiple instruments (correlative analysis). For example, we will share how to characterize metal-organic species from soils and marine environments using ALS nanoprobes. We will also include a tutorial on how to prepare multimodal samples and process the data to enhance compatibility between different beamlines. Combining different radiation sources and techniques at different beamlines is crucial for investigating geochemical processes involving interactions between organic compounds and transition metals, such as organo-mineral interaction,  and biomineralization. This workshop will provide key information for new users on the use of X-ray microscopic and spectroscopic instruments and suggest various pathways for sample characterization to experienced users in the field of environmental geochemistry.

We look forward to your participation! Learn more and register here – https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2025/goldschmidt/2025/meetingapp.cgi