Abstract
Mass spectrometry utilizing atmospheric pressure inductively coupled plasma (ICP) as an ion source has been applied for elemental and isotopic analyses in various geochemical samples. The ICP is characterized by high ionization efficiency for almost all elements. Over the last decade, the multiple collector-ICP-mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) has been widely used for isotope analyses. The precision of isotopic ratios achieved by the MC-ICP-MS technique is comparable to that of the thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) technique. Recently, a triple quadrupole ICP-MS (ICP-MS/MS) has been applied to the measurements of isotope ratios at an ultra-low level. The ICP-MS/MS features an additional quadrupole mass filter, situated in front of the octopole reaction cell and quadrupole mass filter, which allows only the analyte ion to enter the cell by rejecting all other ions. In this paper, I review recent outstanding studies on isotope geochemistry achieved by MC-ICP-MS and ICP-MS/MS techniques.
