Search results for " icp"
showing 10 items of 43 documents
Forensic comparison of PVC tape backings using time resolved LA-ICP-MS analysis
2019
Abstract Adhesive tapes are common tools for criminal acts such as the construction of improvised explosive devices. Hence, tape samples can be used as evidence to link a suspect to a scene of crime or different crime scenes to each other. A set of 87 black electrical tapes was the subject of a study evaluating a LA-ICP-MS method for the characterization of tape backings regarding their elemental composition in a forensic context. LA-ICP-MS is a powerful tool in forensic investigations due to fast, quasi nondestructive analysis of small samples and detection or determination of elements up to the ultra-trace range. In this study, the development of a semiquantitative LA-ICP-MS method for fo…
(Supplement Table S2) Results of 230Th/U-dating
2016
We compared the suitability of two skeletal materials of the Atlantic brain coral Diploria strigosa for 230Th/U-dating: the commonly used bulk material comprising all skeletal elements and the denser theca wall material. Eight fossil corals of presumably Last Interglacial age from Bonaire, southern Caribbean Sea, were investigated, and several sub-samples were dated from each coral. For four corals, both the ages and the activity ratios of the bulk material and theca wall agree within uncertainty. Three corals show significantly older ages for their bulk material than for their theca wall material as well as substantially elevated 232Th content and (230Th/238U) ratios. The bulk material sam…
NanoSr - A New Carbonate Microanalytical Reference Material for In Situ Strontium Isotope Analysis
2019
The in situ measurement of Sr isotopes in carbonates by MC‐ICP‐MS is limited by the availability of suitable microanalytical reference materials (RMs), which match the samples of interest. Whereas several well‐characterised carbonate reference materials for Sr mass fractions > 1000 µg g−1 are available, there is a lack of well‐characterised carbonate microanalytical RMs with lower Sr mass fractions. Here, we present a new synthetic carbonate nanopowder RM with a Sr mass fraction of ca. 500 µg g−1 suitable for microanalytical Sr isotope research (‘NanoSr’). NanoSr was analysed by both solution‐based and in situ techniques. Element mass fractions were determined using EPMA (Ca mass fraction),…
Triple Isotope Fractionation Exponents of Elements Measured by MC-ICP-MS—An Example of Mg
2019
In most chemical reactions, stable isotopes are fractionated in a mass-dependent manner, yielding correlated isotope ratios in elements with three or more stable isotopes. The proportionality between isotope ratios is set by the triple isotope fractionation exponent θ that can be determined precisely for, e.g., sulfur and oxygen by IRMS, but not for metal(loid) elements due to the lower precision of MC-ICP-MS analysis and smaller isotopic variations. Here, using Mg as a test case, we compute a complete metrologically robust uncertainty budget for apparent θ values and, with reference to this, present a new measurement approach that reduces uncertainty on θ values by 30%. T…
Assessment of Five Monazite Reference Materials for U-Th/Pb Dating Using Laser-Ablation ICP-MS
2019
Monazite is a common accessory phosphate mineral that occurs under a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions in sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks. Monazite contains high amounts of Th and U, rendering single monazite grains suitable for in-situ U-Th/Pb dating using laser ablation inductively-coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Two key aspects of monazite dating that are critical for accurate age data with maximum precision are (i) optimized instrumental conditions to minimize analytical scatter and (ii) a well characterized reference material to ensure the accuracy of the obtained aged. Here, we analyzed five monazite reference materials (USGS 44069, 94-222, MAdel, Moa…
Non-Matrix-Matched Calibration for the Multi-Element Analysis of Geological and Environmental Samples Using 200 nm Femtosecond LA-ICP-MS: A Compariso…
2014
LA-ICP-MS is one of the most promising techniques for in situ analysis of geological and environmental samples. However, there are some limitations with respect to measurement accuracy, in particular for volatile and siderophile/chalcophile elements, when using non-matrix-matched calibration. We therefore investigated matrix-related effects with a new 200 nm femtosecond (fs) laser ablation system (NWRFemto200) using reference materials with different matrices and spot sizes from 10 to 55 μm. We also performed similar experiments with two nanosecond (ns) lasers, a 193 nm excimer (ESI NWR 193) and a 213 nm Nd:YAG (NWR UP-213) laser. The ion intensity of the 200 nm fs laser ablation was much l…
(Table 1) Geochemistry of ODP Site 160-963 sediments
2010
The Mediterranean Sea acts as a miniature ocean with the development of its own conveyor belt. It constitutes an ideal location to study and forecast how the marine environment responds to rapid climatic change. Here we present a palaeoenvironmental study carried out on the sediments of ODP Site 963, recovered in the Sicily Channel, the sill which divides the western from the eastern Mediterranean basin. We focused on the transition between the penultimate glacial (MIS 6) and the last interglacial (MIS 5), between approximately 130 and 115 kyr BP. A novel approach is proposed, taking into account centennial-scale geochemical data on major elements, selected trace elements, and yttrium and R…
(Table 1) Trace element/Ca ratios of Orbulina universa shells from late Neogene Mediterranean samples
2008
A Mediterranean composite sedimentary record was analyzed for Ba/Ca ratios on carbonate shells of Orbulina universa planktonic foraminifer (Ba/Ca)carb providing the opportunity to study and assess the extent of freshwater inputs on the basin and possible impacts on its dynamics during the Tortonian to Recent period. A number of scanning electron microscope analyses and auxiliary trace element measurements (Mn, Sr, and Mg), obtained from the same samples, exclude important diagenetic effects on the studied biogenic carbonates and corroborate the reliability of (Ba/Ca)carb ratios in foraminifera calcite as indicators of seawater source components during the studied interval. A long-term trend…
Calcium Carbonate and Phosphate Reference Materials for Monitoring Bulk and Microanalytical Determination of Sr Isotopes
2017
In situ laser ablation analyses rely on the microanalytical homogeneity of reference materials (RMs) and a similar matrix and mass fraction between unknown samples and RMs to obtain reliable results. Suitable carbonate and phosphate RMs for determination of Sr isotope ratios in such materials are limited. Thus, we determined Sr-87/Sr-86 ratios of several carbonate (JCt-1, JCp-1, MACS-1, MACS-3) and phosphate (MAPS-4, MAPS-5, NIST SRM 1400, NIST SRM 1486) international RMs using dissolved samples and two different multi-collector inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometers (MC-ICP-MS). Our Sr isotope data are in agreement with published data and have an improved measurement precision for s…
Microanalytical characterization of decorations in handmade ancient floor tiles using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-O…
2013
In this study a total of 114 glazed decorations of 42 ceramic floor tiles, manufactured in Sicily fromthe 16th to 19 the 21th AD, were investigated. The micro sampling method, proposed by us, using a cotton swab soaked in hydrofluoric acid, includes advantages of high sensitivity, high selectivity, simplicity, speed, not expensive and can be considered non-destructive because the point of sampling remains invisible to the human eye. ICP-OES technique was used in this study. Twenty-four elements (Al, As, B, Be, Ba, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Ti, V and Zn) were determined in each colored enamel. Enameled decorations in Sicilian tiles were varied in tones an…