Analysis of geological materials using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

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The continuing long term goal of my research is to develop to the utmost, the capabilities of Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the analysis of geological samples. The emphasis is on solid materials from the geosphere, but samples from the hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere, which reflect their association with the solid earth and thus contain trace elements which reflect the environment, are included. The integration of ICP-MS with other important geoanalytical methods including especially thermal ionization-mass spectrometry (TI-MS) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) will continue with the goal of developing cost effective, precise, and accurate analyses. That "no method is a panacea" is a guiding principle of my work. My long term goal is to develop methods to determine all of the naturally occurring elements of the periodic table at the concentrations that they are found in real samples. ICP-MS along with XRF procedures currently in place at Memorial University approach this goal, but there are analytes for which additional work is required.