1. n. []

A technique for quantitative mineralogical analysis of a sample of rock by measuring the effect of midrange infrared radiation transmitted through the sample. This radiation excites vibrations in the chemical bonds within the mineral molecules at particular frequencies characteristic of each bond. The transmitted radiation is compared with the spectral standards for a wide variety of minerals to determine the abundance of each mineral in the sample. Typically, a core plug is ground finely and a small (approximately 1 g) representative sample selected and dispersed in a potassium bromide matrix for the measurement.

Alternate Form: FTIR

See related terms: core plug,  X-ray fluorescence (XRF)