Determination of Rare Earth Elements, Sc, Y, Zr, Ba, Hf and Th in Geological Samples by ICP‐MS after Tm Addition and Alkaline Fusion

Abstract

We present a revised method for the determination of concentrations of rare earth (REE) and other trace elements (Y, Sc, Zr, Ba, Hf, Th) in geological samples. Our analytical procedure involves sample digestion using alkaline fusion (NaOH‐Na 2 O 2 ) after addition of a Tm spike, co‐precipitation on iron hydroxides, and measurement by sector field‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (SF‐ICP‐MS). The procedure was tested successfully for various rock types (i.e., basalt, ultramafic rock, sediment, soil, granite), including rocks with low trace element abundances (sub ng g −1 ). Results obtained for a series of nine geological reference materials (BIR‐1, BCR‐2, UB‐N, JP‐1, AC‐E, MA‐N, MAG‐1, GSMS‐2, GSS‐4) are in reasonable agreement with published working values.