Transactions of the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Jun 2015)
PRECISION GEOCHEMICAL (ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS) ANALYSIS OF ROCK AND MINERAL COMPOSITION: THE METHOD AND ACCURACY ESTIMATION IN THE CASE STUDY OF EARLY PRECAMBRIAN MAFIC COMPLEXES
Abstract
The application of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is discussed in the case study of Precambrian mafic and ultramafic rocks of easternFennoscandian shield and their mineral components. Determination of bulk probe sample composition is reported to be possible using both the chemical digestion ofsamples and in situ laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS). The accuracy of the analyses was monitored by analyzing the USGS standard BHVO-2, Russian standard SGD-1A, and in-house reference materials. The composition and measurement results of in-house reference materials С-1412, KN1 and KK1 are presented. The effect of ablation modes on the accuracy and reproducibility of LA-ICP-MS elemental concentration analysis was explored for standards, minerals and rocks. The sensitivity of the method is indicated to depend not only on the physicochemical properties of the samples(melting temperature, volatility), but also on the ablation mode and analysis procedure.
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