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Characterisation of Memory Effects and Development of an Effective Wash Protocol for the Measurement of Petrogenetically Critical Trace Elements in Geological Samples by ICP‐MS
Author(s) -
McGinnis Cathleen E.,
Jain Jinesh C.,
Neal Clive R.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
geostandards newsletter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1751-908X
pISSN - 0150-5505
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-908x.1997.tb00677.x
Subject(s) - inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , trace (psycholinguistics) , calibration , sensitivity (control systems) , spurious relationship , analytical chemistry (journal) , protocol (science) , engram , mafic , geology , mineralogy , chemistry , materials science , mass spectrometry , computer science , physics , environmental chemistry , geochemistry , chromatography , engineering , philosophy , electronic engineering , linguistics , quantum mechanics , alternative medicine , cognitive psychology , pathology , psychology , machine learning , medicine
High sensitivity and low detection limits would seem to make inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) an ideal analytical tool for determining low (sub‐μg g ‐1 ) concentrations of the rare earth elements (REE), Y, Zr, Nb, Hf, Ta, Sn, W, Mo, Th, and U in most mafic materials (e.g. Hall and Plant 1992). However, the generally “sticky” nature exhibited by most of the high field strength elements (HFSEs: Zr, Nb, Hf, Ta, Th and U) as well as Sn, W and Mo can result in spurious results due to memory effects transmitted between unknowns and calibration samples. This, in turn, can seriously compromise the sensitivity, accuracy, and precision of ICP‐MS analyses for these elements in geological materials. Data resulting from analyses with poor accuracy and precision can lead to erroneous interpretation and misleading petrogenetic modelling. To resolve this problem, we propose an effective wash protocol for these critical trace elements.