| Abstract: | Detection limits of volatile elements are effectively lowered by the spectrographic method of using covered electrodes in conjunction with the arc concentration technique; the method presented allows for simultaneous multi-element batch determination. In the author's laboratory, measurements were made by using a plane-grating spectrograph, PGS-2 with an a.c. arc generator as an excitation source and a current of 13 A. The detection limits of the 37 elements determined basically meet the needs of regional geochemical exploration with a relative standard deviation of ±5–10% for most elements (except B and Ga, which are ±10–20%). The analytical results of geochemical standard reference samples (GSD 1–8 of China and GXR 1–6 of the USGS) by this method agree with their recommended (or certified) values with a relative error of ±30%. |
