Potential Orthopyroxene, Clinopyroxene and Olivine Reference Materials for <i>In Situ </i><scp>L</scp>ithium Isotope Determination

Abstract

Over 1400 electron probe and 700 ion probe microanalyses were performed on eleven mineral separates to evaluate their potential as reference materials for in situ L i isotopic determination. Our results suggest the homogenous distributions of major elements, L i and its isotopes for each sample. Hence, these samples are suitable to be used as reference materials for in situ measurements of L i abundance and L i isotopes by secondary ion mass spectrometry ( SIMS ) or laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry ( LA ‐ ICP ‐ MS ). These samples have the advantage of mitigating probable matrix effects during calibration owing to the wide range of compositions. The effect of composition on the δ 7 L i of olivine measured by SIMS is a linear function of composition, with δ 7 L i increasing by 1.0‰ for each mole per cent decrease in forsterite component.