Refinement of the Compton-Rayleigh scatter ratio method for use on the Mars Science Laboratory alpha particle X-ray spectrometer: II - Extraction of invisible element content

The intensity ratio C/R between Compton and Rayleigh scatter peaks of the exciting Pu L X-rays in the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) is strongly affected by the presence of very light elements such as oxygen which cannot be detected directly by the APXS. C/R values are determined along with element concentrations by fitting APXS spectra of geochemical reference materials (GRMs) with the GUAPX code. A quantity K is defined as the ratio between the C/R value determined by Monte Carlo simulation based on the measured element concentrations and the fitted C/R value from the spectrum. To ensure optimally accurate K values, the choice of appropriate GRMs is explored in detail, with attention paid to Rb and Sr, whose characteristic Kα X-ray peaks overlap the Pu Lα scatter peaks. The resulting relationship between the ratio K and the overall oxygen fraction is linear. This provides a calibration from which the concentration of additional light invisible constituents (ALICs) such as water may be estimated in unknown rock and conglomerate samples. Several GRMs are used as 'unknowns' in order to evaluate the accuracy of ALIC concentrations derived in this manner.