Reference Minerals for the Microanalysis of Light Elements |
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| Authors: | M Darby Dyar Michael Wiedenbeck David Robertson Laura R Cross Jeremy S Delaney Kurt Ferguson Carl A Francis Edward S Grew Charles V Guidotti Richard L Hervig John M Hughes John Husler William Leeman Anne V McGuire Dieter Rhede Heike Rothe Rick L Paul Ian Richards Martin Yates |
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| Institution: | Department of Earth and Environment, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01075 USA Corresponding author. e-mail:;GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, D 14473, Potsdam, Germany;Department of Chemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211 USA;Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40506 USA;Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ 08855 USA;Department of Geological Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, 75275 USA;Harvard Mineralogical Museum, 24 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138 USA;Department of Geological Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5790 USA;Center for Solid State Science, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1704 USA;Department of Geology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056 USA;Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1116 USA;Department of Geology and Geophysics, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005 USA;Department of Geosciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-5503 USA;Analytical Chemistry Division, NIST, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 USA |
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| Abstract: | The quantitative determination of light element concentrations in geological specimens represents a major analytical challenge as the electron probe is generally not suited to this task. With the development of new in situ analytical techniques, and in particular the increasing use of secondary ion mass spectrometry, the routine determination of Li, Be and B contents has become a realistic goal. However, a major obstacle to the development of this research field is the critical dependence of SIMS on the availability of well characterized, homogeneous reference materials that are closely matched in matrix (composition and structure) to the sample being studied. Here we report the first results from a suite of large, gem crystals which cover a broad spectrum of minerals in which light elements are major constituents. We have characterized these materials using both in situ and wet chemical techniques. The samples described here are intended for distribution to geochemical laboratories active in the study of light elements. Further work is needed before reference values for these materials can be finalized, but the availability of this suite of materials represents a major step toward the routine analysis of the light element contents of geological specimens. |
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| Keywords: | light elements tourmaline danburite spodumene muscovite isotopes |
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