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NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Kystol, J., & Melchior Larsen, L. (1999). Analytical procedures in the Rock Geochemical Laboratory of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 184, 59-62. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v184.5230 _______________ The analytical procedures for analysis of whole rocks for major and selected trace elements, mainly by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), are described in detail. The quality of the results is evaluated and results for international standards are given.

Biomass combustion is used in heating and electric power generation in many areas of the world. Airborne particulate matter (PM) is released when biomass is brought to a facility, stored, and combusted. Occupational exposure to airborne PM within biomass-fueled facilities may lead to health problems. In March and August of 2006, airborne PM was collected from a biomass-fueled facility located in Denmark. In addition, source-specific PM was generated from straw and wood pellets using a rotating drum. The PM was analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, microbial components, mutagenic activity, and ability to generate highly reactive oxygen species (hROS) in cell-free aqueous suspensions. PM collected from the boiler room and the biomass storage hall had higher levels of mutagenic activity, PAHs and metals, and a higher hROS generating potential than the source specific PM. The mutagenic activity was generally more potent without S9 activation, and on the metabolically enhanced strain YG1041, relative to TA98. Significant correlations were found between mutagenicity on YG1041 (without S9) and PAH concentration and mutagenicity on YG1041 (with S9) and hROS generating ability. PM collected in March was more toxic than PM collected in August. Overall, airborne PM collected from the facility, especially that from the boiler room, were more toxic than PM generated from straw and wood chips. The results suggest that exposure to combustion PM in a biomass-fueled facility, which likely includes PM from biomass combustion as well as internal combustion vehicles, may contribute to an elevated risk of adverse health effects.

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Neighboring (parallel) samples from 72 lava flows, splits of identical samples from five lava flows, and splits of 10 shipboard powders from Ocean Drilling Program Leg 152 were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) in both Edinburgh and Copenhagen. The agreement between the two data sets is very good, although systematic differences are apparent in some cases. Correlation between the results for the identical powders is very high. Correlation between the results for the parallel samples is somewhat lower, mainly because of element redistribution during secondary alteration, but also due to primary lava inhomogeneity. The elements show differences in the degree of scatter due to alteration, with K, Rb, and Ba being the most mobile, and Si, Sc, Al, Fe, Zn, V, and Nb the least mobile. Y is immobile in the Site 917 lavas but distinctly mobile in the Site 918 lavas where it is both leached and precipitated locally. The mobility of Y is related to secondary breakdown of clinopyroxene at Site 918, in contrast to Site 917 where the clinopyroxene is generally fresh. The hydrothermal alteration conditions at the two sites appear to have been different.