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Approach II: Highly-Sensitive Open-Cell Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) Approaches for the Quantification of Rare Earth Elements in Natural Carbonates at Parts-Per-Billion Levels

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Advanced and Applied Studies on Ultra-Trace Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in Carbonates Using SN-ICPMS and LA-ICPMS

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Abstract

In this chapter, a high-sensitivity approach to quantify ultra-trace concentrations of rare earth elements (REEs) in speleothem carbonates using open-cell laser ablation-sector field-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (open-cell LA-SF-ICPMS) was developed. Specifically, open-cell LA in combination with a gas exchange device enabled sampling of large-scale carbonate specimens in an ambient environment. The use of a “jet” vacuum interface and the addition of small amounts of N2 gas allowed for a 20–40 fold sensitivity enhancement compared to the conventional interface configuration. Mass load effects, quantification capabilities and detection power were investigated in analyses of reference materials using various combinations of spot sizes and laser repetition rates. From 160 µm diameter circular laser spots and 10 Hz ablation frequency, limits of detection were in the low or sub-ng/g range for REEs. Little dependence of Ca normalized sensitivity factors from the amount of material introduced into the plasma was observed. Relative deviations of quantified concentrations from USGS MACS-3 preferred values were smaller than 12%. The analytical approach enabled the determination of REE concentration profiles at the single digit ng/g level. Application to a 15-cm piece stalagmite collected from East Timor revealed at least two abrupt elevations in light rare earth elements (LREEs) within a scanning distance of 8 mm. These anomaly regions extended over a distance of ≈200 µm and showed LREE abundances elevated by at least one order of magnitude. This high-resolution open-cell LA-SF-ICPMS method has the potential to be applied in micro-domain analyses of other natural carbonates, such as travertine, tufa, and flowstones. This is promising for a better understanding of earth and environmental sciences.

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich, Switzerland

    Chung-Che Wu

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Correspondence to Chung-Che Wu .

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Wu, CC. (2021). Approach II: Highly-Sensitive Open-Cell Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) Approaches for the Quantification of Rare Earth Elements in Natural Carbonates at Parts-Per-Billion Levels. In: Advanced and Applied Studies on Ultra-Trace Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in Carbonates Using SN-ICPMS and LA-ICPMS. Springer Theses. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3619-6_4

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