Fig. 3

STXM-NEXAFS analysis of PS fragment retrieved from agricultural soil showing possible particle detachment, NEXAFS data were normalized to pre- and post-edge to remove the effect of the sample thickness on the optical density. A Average spectra of each group determined by hierarchical clustering for a single measurement. The coloured arrow indicates the position of the peaks presented in B. B Intensity of the peaks highlighted by the arrow in A along the surface – BM gradient of the same measurement shown in A. The coloured bar shows the position of the cluster group in the surface – BM gradient. C SEM image of the PS section. The position of the measurement presented in A and B is highlighted by the three horizontal lines, resulting from the carbon deposition from the STXM chamber during the measurement