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Rare Earth Element Determination in Olivine by Laser Ablation‐Quadrupole‐ ICP ‐ MS : An Analytical Strategy and Applications
Author(s) -
Stead Clare V.,
Tomlinson Emma L.,
Kamber Balz S.,
Babechuk Michael G.,
McKenna Cora A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geostandards and geoanalytical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.037
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1751-908X
pISSN - 1639-4488
DOI - 10.1111/ggr.12157
Subject(s) - olivine , geology , mantle (geology) , geochemistry , rare earth element , mineralogy , laser ablation , analytical chemistry (journal) , metasomatism , meteorite , chemistry , rare earth , laser , astrobiology , physics , optics , chromatography
Olivine offers huge, largely untapped, potential for improving our understanding of magmatic and metasomatic processes. In particular, a wealth of information is contained in rare earth element ( REE ) mass fractions, which are well studied in other minerals. However, REE data for olivine are scarce, reflecting the difficulty associated with determining mass fractions in the low ng g −1 range and with controlling the effects of LREE contamination. We report an analytical procedure for measuring REE s in olivine using laser ablation quadrupole‐ ICP ‐ MS that achieved limits of determination (LOD) at sub‐ng g −1 levels and biases of ~ 5–10%. Empirical partition coefficients ( D values) calculated using the new olivine compositions agree with experimental values, indicating that the measured REE s are structurally bound in the olivine crystal lattice, rather than residing in micro‐inclusions. We conducted an initial survey of REE contents of olivine from mantle, metamorphic, magmatic and meteorite samples. REE mass fractions vary from 0.1 to double‐digit ng g −1 levels. Heavy REE s vary from low mass fractions in meteoritic samples, through variably enriched peridotitic olivine to high mass fractions in magmatic olivines, with fayalitic olivines showing the highest levels. The variable enrichment in HREE s demonstrates that olivine REE patterns have petrological utility.