Alkali feldspar (Or64.5Ab34.8An0.6) in a granite pegmatite from Hanazono, Kosei Town, Shiga Prefecture, southwest Japan, consists of two types of regions observable with the naked eye: one is colourless and transparent, and the other is pale pink and opaque. The colourless regions are clear, cryptoperthitic and almost free of micropores, and the pale pink regions are turbid, vein microperthitic and with many micropores visible under a microscope. The latter regions may have been changed from the former by the catalytic action of water. Integrated absorbance values were calculated for both types of regions from Fourier-transform infrared microspectra in the range 2500–4000 cm−1. These values were used as semi-quantitative parameters of water contents. The turbid regions are much more enriched in water compared to the clear regions. The chemical states of water in both regions were also evaluated. Water in the turbid regions is estimated to be present mainly as H2O inclusions in micropores and to be present to a lesser extent as structural OH groups. A small amount of water in the clear regions may be present as structural OH groups. The water distribution in the feldspar records the cooling history of hydrothermal reactions causing the coarsening of cryptoperthites to microperthites.

Use of deep ultraviolet (DUV, below 350 nm) fluorescence opens up new possibilities in biology because it does not need external specific probes or labeling but instead allows use of the intrinsic fluorescence that exists for many biomolecules when excited in this wavelength range. Indeed, observation of label free biomolecules or active drugs ensures that the label will not modify the biolocalization or any of its properties. In the past, it has not been easy to accomplish DUV fluorescence imaging due to limited sources and to microscope optics. Two worlds were coexisting: the spectrofluorometric measurements with full spectrum information with DUV excitation, which lacked high-resolution localization, and the microscopic world with very good spatial resolution but poor spectral resolution for which the wavelength range was limited to 350 nm. To combine the advantages of both worlds, we have developed a DUV fluorescence microscope for cell biology coupled to a synchrotron beamline, providing fine tunable excitation from 180 to 600 nm and full spectrum acquired on each point of the image, to study DUV excited fluorescence emitted from nanovolumes directly inside live cells or tissue biopsies.