Applications of Multiple Collector-ICPMS to Cosmochemistry, Geochemistry, and Paleoceanography

Multiple collector-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) is a new technique for the measurement of isotopic compositions at high precision, and is of great relevance to planetary, earth, ocean, and environmental sciences. The method combines the outstanding ionization efficiency of the ICP source with the superior peak shapes achievable from the ion optical focal plane of a large dispersion magnetic sector mass spectrometer, utilizing simultaneous multiple collection to achieve the most precise isotopic measurements yet made for many elements—particularly those with high first ionization potential. The addition of a laser facilitates studies for which spatial resolution is required. This method is still in its infancy, yet diverse applications have already led to a number of important scientific developments. Here we review some of these accomplishments and the potential for further work. The Lu-Hf isotopic system, for many years considered analytically challenging, is now relatively straightforward and offers great promise in fields as diverse as garnet geochronology, hydrothermal fluxes to the oceans, and crustal evolution. The age of the Earth’s core, the Moon, and Mars have been measured using a new short-lived chronometer 182Hf-182W. Other such new chronometers will follow. High precision isotope dilution measurements of the Earth’s inventory of many poorly understood elements such as In, Cd, Te, and the platinum group elements are providing tests for models for the accretion of the inner solar system. The small natural isotopic variations in elements such as Cu and Zn, produced by mass dependent fractionation, are now measurable at high precision with this method, and entirely new fields of stable isotope geochemistry can be developed. Similarly, measurements of small nucleosynthetic isotopic anomalies should be made easier for some elements. Measurements of U and Th isotopic compositions at very high sensitivity and reproducibility are now possible, allowing the development of higher resolution Quaternary geochronology. Finally, using laser ablation, the first precise in situ Sr, Hf, W, and Pb isotopic measurements have been made in natural materials, opening up a range of microanalytical isotopic studies in petrology and marine geochemistry. MC-ICPMS offers exciting times ahead in areas well beyond the bounds of geochemistry. Indeed, MC-ICPMS is likely to become the method of choice for many isotopic measurements because it is a more user friendly and efficient method for the acquisition of high precision data. It is also much more versatile, permitting elements to be measured that were previously considered intractable, and allowing the acquisition of data in situ, all with a single mass spectrometer. The limiting factor on the sensitivity is the transmission which is ≤2% for all instruments thus far designed. If it is found possible to improve the transmission still further, thermal ionization mass spectrometry, the technique that has, thus far, provided the high precision measurements necessary for most of the vast field of radiogenic isotope geochemistry, may be relegated to specialized applications.