LIBS spectroscopy meets the ocean. Chemical analysis of archeological materials in Mediterranean waters

Abstract

After decades of development in laboratories and land operations, chemical analysis of submerged objects is starting to become a reality. While the analysis of water at variable depth has been demonstrated in the past using florescence spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, determination of the atomic composition of submerged objects is much a more complex task. Technology based on laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been recently developed for such sub-sea operations. This paper will discuss the operating parameters of a marine LIBS analyzer. Metals, alloys, rocks, marble, concrete, can be analyzed at a depth of up to 50 m. The system has been tested in several coastal surveys in Mediterranean waters.