Quantification of major and trace elements in fluid inclusions and gas bubbles by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) with no internal standard: a new method

Abstract

Recent advances in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) open new perspectives for quantification of trace metals and metalloids in mineral-hosted fluid inclusions and glass-hosted gas bubbles. This work is devoted to a new method applied to quantify element concentrations (at parts-per-million and weight percent levels) in natural and synthetic fluid inclusions and gas bubbles by using only an external calibrator in cases where internal standardization is unavailable. For example, this method can be applied to calculate element (metal and metalloid) concentrations in carbonic (C–O–H) fluid inclusions and bubbles. The method is devoted to measuring incompatible (with the host mineral and glass) trace elements originally dissolved into the trapped fluid. The method requires precise estimation of the fluid density, the inclusion/bubble volume or average radius, and measurement of the laser ablation crater radius by independent microanalytical techniques as well as accurate data on the concentration of major/minor elements compatible with the host mineral (or host glass). This method, applicable for analyses of hydrous carbonic fluid inclusions and gas bubbles hosted in silicate minerals and glasses, relies on the absence of a matrix effect between fluid, host mineral and daughter phases (silicate, oxide or sulfide) and the external calibrator (e.g., reference silicate glasses) during the LA-ICP-MS analysis, an assumption validated by the use of femtosecond lasers.