Precise and accurate isotopic measurements using multiple-collector ICPMS

Precise and accurate 186Os/188Os and 187Os/188Os measurements by multi-collector plasma ionisation mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) part I: Solution analyses

“…The only potential concern arising from this approach to deriving IERs, but one which is common to the iteration approach and indeed most methods, is the fact that mass bias factors (β) for different elements are not necessarily equal in a plasma source (Maréchal et al, 1999;Albarède et al, 2004) and the relative difference in β values may differ from one analytical session to the next. In this case it might be necessary to derive the Re and W IERs on a daily basis such that any slight difference in β factors between Os and Re or W would be accounted for through the mass bias correction to one of the Os isotope ratios.…”

High spatial resolution analysis of Pb and U isotopes for geochronology by laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS)

“…The normalization of the isotopic ratios of the samples (R spl ) follows the formula of Albarède et al (2004):…”

“…The variable θ (theta) is a time factor (Albarède et al 2004) or, in other words, gives respective weight to the two standard measurements. It depends on the location of the samples within the analysing sequence, and takes values between 0 and 1.…”

High-precision 238U–234U–230Th disequilibrium dating of the recent past: a review

“…For modern corals, a typical precision of 3-5 years has been demonstrated for pristine corals containing less than 0.2 ppb Th (Edwards et al, 1987(Edwards et al, , 1988, although in this case relatively large samples of several grams were required to yield sufficient 230 Th for satisfactory measurement. More recent developments in MC-ICPMS (Halliday et al, 1995;Hellstrom, 2003;Albarè de et al, 2004;Fietzke et al, 2005;Potter et al, 2005a;McCulloch and Mortimer, 2008) and high-resolution sector-field ICPMS (Shen et al, 2002(Shen et al, , 2008Wang et al, 2008) have resulted in precisions similar to or better than the best TIMS analyses, with the added attraction of reduced sample size and much higher sample throughput. Additional advantages include the greatly enhanced sensitivity of ICPMS relative to TIMS, the predictable mass bias, simplified chemical preparation and separation techniques, and rapid sample introduction and measurement.…”

“…The development of U-Th dating techniques has largely focussed on improving the analytical precision and accuracy of determinations made on materials dating from beyond the last interglacial, on improving the sensitivity and reducing the size of sample required for dating, on increasing sample throughput and, more recently, on high-resolution in situ dating of high-U samples (Halliday et al, 1995;Stirling et al, 1995Stirling et al, , 2000Stirling et al, , 2001Rehkä mper et al, 2001;Shen et al, 2002;Goldstein and Stirling, 2003;Hellstrom, 2003;Albarè de et al, 2004;Andersen et al, 2004;Eggins et al, 2005;Potter et al, 2005a,b;McCulloch and Mortimer, 2008). Recent advances in MC-ICPMS have greatly enhanced sample throughput for U-Th dating and age precision for samples of >300 ka old as a result of the capacity of the procedure to correct for mass bias on Th isotopic measurements.…”