Determination of Scandium, Yttrium and Rare Earth Elements in Rocks by High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry |
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Authors: | Philip Robinson Ashley T Townsend Zongshou Yu Carsten Münker |
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Institution: | School of Earth Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia. e-mail:;Central Science Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia;Centre for Ore Deposit Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia |
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Abstract: | The high sensitivity, minimal oxide formation and single internal standard capability of high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (HR-ICP-MS) is demonstrated in the direct determination of Sc, Y and REE in the international reference materials: basalts (BCR-1, BHVO-1, BIR-1, DNC-1), andesite (AGV-1) andultramafics (UB-N, PCC-1 and DTS-1). Time consuming ion exchange separation or preconcentration were found to be unnecessary. Smooth chondrite normalized plots of the REE in PCC-1 and DTS-1 were obtained in the range 0.8-50 ng g-1 (0.01-0.1x chondrite). Method precision was found to be digestion dependent with an average external repeatability of 2-4% for the basalts, AGV-1 and UB-N, and 10% for PCC-1 and DTS-1. The mass peak due to 45Sc was completely resolved from 29Si16O and 28Si16O1H spectral interferences using medium resolution, which casts doubt on the accuracy of Sc determinations using quadrupole ICP-MS. Literature values for Y in rock reference materials were found to be approximately 9% high after HR-ICP-MS and XRF analysis. |
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Keywords: | Rare earth elements scandium yttrium high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry silicate rocks method developments |
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