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U‐Pb Zircon Geochronology with an Integrated LA‐ICP‐MS Microanalytical Workstation: Achievements in Precision and Accuracy
Author(s) -
Solari Luigi A.,
GómezTuena Arturo,
Bernal Juan Pablo,
PérezArvizu Ofelia,
Tanner Martin
Publication year - 2010
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/j.1751-908x.2009.00027.x
Subject(s) - zircon , geochronology , microprobe , geology , laser ablation , homogeneity (statistics) , mineralogy , analytical chemistry (journal) , geochemistry , laser , chemistry , computer science , optics , physics , chromatography , machine learning
Laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) is a microanalytical tool especially suitable for providing fast and precise U‐Pb geochronological results on zircon grains. A new 193 nm excimer laser adapted to a micromachining workstation, equipped with a newly designed two‐volume ablation cell and coupled with a quadrupole ICP‐MS, is presented here. The system was tuned routinely to achieve sensitivities in the range of 3000 cps/μg g −1 for 238 U (< 2% RSD), with a 34 μm spot size, at 5 Hz and ∼ 8 J cm −2 , while ablating the NIST SRM 612 glass reference material. The system was capable of providing fast (< 1.5 minutes each analysis) and precise (generally < 1.5% 1s errors) 206 Pb/ 238 U zircon ages. The ages of widely used reference material zircons (Plesovice, 337 Ma; Temora, 416 Ma; R33, 418 Ma; Sri Lanka, 564 Ma; 91500, 1065 Ma) could be precisely matched, with an accuracy on isotopic ratios that ranged from ∼ 2 to ∼ 6%, depending on the homogeneity of the natural reference materials.