Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry: a new tool for trace element analysis in ice cores

Abstract

A new method for the detection of trace elements in polar ice cores using laser ablation with subsequent inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis is described. To enable direct analysis of frozen ice samples a special laser ablation chamber was constructed. Direct analysis reduces the risk of contamination. The defined removal of material from the ice surface by means of a laser beam leads to higher spatial resolution (300-1000 µm) in comparison to investigations with molten ice samples. This is helpful for the detection of element signatures in annual layers of ice cores. The method was applied to the successful determination of traces for the elements Mg, Al, Fe, Zn, Cd, Pb, some rare-earth elements (REE) and minor constituents such as Ca and Na in ice cores. These selected elements serve as tracer elements for certain sources and their element signatures detected in polar ice cores can give hints to climate changes in the past. We report results from measurements of frozen ice samples, the achievable signal intensities, standard deviations and calibration graphs as well as the first signal progression of 208 Pb in an 8,000-year-old ice core sample from Greenland. In addition, the first picture of a crater on an ice surface burnt by an IR laser made by cryogenic scanning electron microscopy is presented.

Ground‐based measurements of spatial and temporal variability of snow accumulation in East Antarctica

“…New techniques build on the greater availability of more advanced chemical analysis instrumentation, such as inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS), allows the accurate determination of many tens of chemical elements at the parts per billion, parts per trillion, and parts per quadrillion levels. Improved instrumentation coupled with advances in sample generation, e.g., by laser ablation [ Reinhardt et al , 2001], ultraclean sample analysis, and continuous sampling [ Knüsel et al , 2003; Osterberg et al , 2006], will likely yield new firn and ice core dating methods. This would be particularly advantageous for dating ice cores from low‐accumulation sites (such as the East Antarctic plateau).…”

Oxygen-dependent niche formation of a pyrite-dependent acidophilic consortium built by archaea and bacteria

“…Within this work, the quadrupled wavelength of 266 nm was used. As LA chamber, the cryo chamber described by Kriews et al (2001; and Reinhardt et al (2001) was used with minor modifications that are listed together with scanning procedure in the Supplementary section SI Materials and Methods.…”

Determination of metal ions in single wood fiber by LA-ICP-MS

“…Determination of calcium by LA-ICP-MS technique is affected by spectral interferences, which, however, can be avoided by using the dynamic reaction cell (DRC) accessory (not available for the present study). The intensity variations during LA on cellulose pellets may also originate from the heterogeneity and uneven surface of the pellets and the fl uctuation in the laser ablations (Reinhardt et al 2001 ).…”

“…The main advantages of LA are that the method makes it possible to perform direct analysis of solid samples and even allows analysis of small selected areas (Arrowsmith 1987 ;Masters and Sharp 1997 ). Therefore, there is no need to separate small details of interest from the bulk (Reinhardt et al 2001 ; Russo et al 2002 ). Moreover, pretreatment of the sample can be minimized.…”