Application of laser ablation ICP-MS and traditional micromorphological techniques to the study of an Alfisol (Sardinia, Italy) in thin sections: Insights into trace element distribution

Soil genesis, morphodynamic processes and chronological implications in two soil transects of SE Sardinia, Italy: Traditional pedological study coupled with laser ablation ICP-MS and radionuclide analyses

“…For the analysis of rock clasts, the less weathered portions were selected and ablation was made along lines (~50 × 200 μm), rather than spots, for larger fragments. The potential effect of the impregnating resin on trace element concentrations was demonstrated to be fully negligible (Scarciglia et al, 2009a). Spots concurrently including soil material and resin filling pores sometimes underwent a quick drop of the acquisition signal during ablation (chiefly on organic-rich matrix of A horizons), with consequent possible underestimation of chemical concentrations.…”

“…We focused on different discrete soil features, such as skeletal rock fragments, pedogenic matrix (mainly humic in profile P5 and clayey in P8) and silt-clay coatings (profile P8). New spot analyses were performed on rock, matrix portions and illuvial pedofeatures of the argillic horizons from the latter profile, already characterized by Scarciglia et al (2009a), in order to determine concentrations of supplementary elements as Ti, Mn and Fe. The analyses were performed using an Elan DRCe (Perkin Elmer/ SCIEX) equipment connected to a New Wave UP213 solid-state Nd-YAG laser probe (213 nm).…”

“…Ablation was performed on 80-100 μm thick sections prepared from the same impregnated and consolidated blocks used for classical thin sections, and representing the counterparts of the 30 μm thick sections. Such a greater thickness is necessary because under instrumental conditions, as already applied by Scarciglia et al (2009a), the laser beam reaches about 80 μm in depth. Since soil standards are not available, analyses were calibrated using the NIST612-50 ppm glass reference material as an external standard (concentrations taken from Pearce et al, 1997).…”

Paleo water–rock interaction determined through isotopic tracing (Sr, O, C, U) in fracture-fill minerals: Evidence from the Vienne granitoids (France)

“…Recent development of analytical methods could help to improve the technical feasibility of obtaining key data. Such improvements are achievable through developments in mass spectrometry, sample ablation by laser micro sampling, and ion microprobe techniques (Tanaka et al, 2007;Scarciglia et al, 2009;McGregor et al, 2011). Such applications of multi isotope tools, as summarized by Blyth et al (2009) in a review paper is of primary importance to reconstruct and date paleohydrogeological occurrences.…”

Rapid evaluation of the extent in micro-degradation of protective coatings using laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

“…However, none of these techniques can directly provide depth characteristics of the trace elements while determining the coating thickness. In the last few years, laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has attracted wide interest in different fields of science and technology (Barca et al, 2007;Becker et al, 2007;Scarciglia et al, 2009) for the analysis of elements in solid specimens and the determination of trace and ultra-trace impurities down to the sub nano-gram per gram concentration level (Bi et al, 2000;Fernandez et al, 2007). This technique is particularly useful for the understanding of the degradation mechanism.…”