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Himalayan Geology, Vol. 30 (1), 2009, pp.95-99 Printed in India
An appraisal of ICP-MS technique for determination of REEs: long term QC
assessment of Silicate Rock Analysis
P.P. KHANNA*, N.K. SAINI, P.K. MUKHERJEE, K.K. PUROHIT
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun - 248 001, India
Abstract: Silicate rocks, being geochemically most complex material,
pose great difficulties in accurate and precise measurement of ultra-trace
abundance of elements like rare earths. The performance of a quadrupole type
inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) in this regard, was
evaluated for determination of fourteen rare earth elements (REEs) in
silicate rock samples. Complete analytical procedure adopted for routine
determination of these elements using ICP-MS is described. All the
determinations were carried out against well characterized reference rock
materials. Possibility of determining REEs without using any internal
standard was explored. It was noted that determinations without internal
standard are well within the acceptable limits of errors provided the
calibration standard is judiciously chosen. Single standard calibration is
found valid for a wide range of concentrations because of the wide dynamic
linear range of the technique. |
