Trace element analyses of spheres from the melt zone of the Greenland Ice Cap using synchrotron X ray fluorescence

Synchrotron X ray fluorescence spectra of unpolished iron and chondritic spheres extracted from sediments collected on the melt zone of the Greenland ice cap allow the analysis of Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, Pb, and Se with minimum detection limits on the order of several parts per million. All detected elements are depleted relative to chondritic abundance with the exception of Pb, which shows enrichments up to a factor of 500. An apparent anticorrelation between the Ni‐content and trace element concentration was observed in both types of spherules. The fractionation patterns of the iron and chondritic spheres are not complementary and consequently the two iron spheres examined in this study are unlikely to result from the ejection of globules of Fe/Ni from parent chondritic micrometeoroids.