While the thickness of ultramicrotomed sections is much more uniform than that of wedge-shaped foils, its variation is seen to be dependent on such factors as the type of material, use of embedding media, water bath interaction (anodic dissolution) and quality of the diamond knife edge. The latter also affects the thickness of surface oxides formed during sectioning. More deleterious surface layers are produced by partial breakdown and redeposition of embedding media under the electron beam. These artefacts indicate that ultramicrotomy is not the panacea for elemental X-ray mapping that might, at first thought, appear to be the case. For the example of a metal matrix composite, useable maps are obtainable, but even the best microtomed sections are limited in terms of mapping by factors such as the lengthy times for map acquisition caused by the low X-ray count rates resulting from thin specimens, particularly where low mass fractions are involved.