Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry

Techniques for Pb measurements have reached the stage where Antarctic ice with sub-picogram per gram concentrations can be reliably analysed for isotopic composition. Here, particular attention has been given to measuring the quantity of Pb added during the decontamination and sample storage stages...

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Main Authors: Vallelonga, Paul, Van de Velde, Katja, Candelone, Jean, Ly, Chi, Rosman, Kevin, Boutron, C.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier BV 2002
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26200
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author Vallelonga, Paul
Van de Velde, Katja
Candelone, Jean
Ly, Chi
Rosman, Kevin
Boutron, C.
author_facet Vallelonga, Paul
Van de Velde, Katja
Candelone, Jean
Ly, Chi
Rosman, Kevin
Boutron, C.
author_sort Vallelonga, Paul
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Techniques for Pb measurements have reached the stage where Antarctic ice with sub-picogram per gram concentrations can be reliably analysed for isotopic composition. Here, particular attention has been given to measuring the quantity of Pb added during the decontamination and sample storage stages of the sample preparation process because of their impact on accuracy at low concentrations. These stages, including the use of a stainless steel chisel for the decontamination, contributed 5.2 pg to the total sample analysed, amounting to a concentration increase of 13 fg g−1, which is significantly less than expected. Consequently, the corrections to the isotopic ratios and concentration were also smaller. Other contributions to the blank, such as Pb fallout onto critical working areas in the HEPA-filtered air laboratories, were also relatively small as was the amount of Pb leached from preconditioned perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) beakers during sample processing. The ion source contributed typically 89±19 fg to the blank. Although this was relatively large, its influence depended upon the amount of Pb available for analysis and it had the greatest impact when small volumes of samples with a very low concentration were analysed. A 15 months investigation of the leaching characteristics of Pb from a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sample storage bottle showed 11 fg cm−2 per day was released immediately following the initial 2 months cleaning process, but this decreased to immeasurable values after a further 3 months of cleaning.
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publishDate 2002
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-262002017-09-13T15:53:34Z Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry Vallelonga, Paul Van de Velde, Katja Candelone, Jean Ly, Chi Rosman, Kevin Boutron, C. Techniques for Pb measurements have reached the stage where Antarctic ice with sub-picogram per gram concentrations can be reliably analysed for isotopic composition. Here, particular attention has been given to measuring the quantity of Pb added during the decontamination and sample storage stages of the sample preparation process because of their impact on accuracy at low concentrations. These stages, including the use of a stainless steel chisel for the decontamination, contributed 5.2 pg to the total sample analysed, amounting to a concentration increase of 13 fg g−1, which is significantly less than expected. Consequently, the corrections to the isotopic ratios and concentration were also smaller. Other contributions to the blank, such as Pb fallout onto critical working areas in the HEPA-filtered air laboratories, were also relatively small as was the amount of Pb leached from preconditioned perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) beakers during sample processing. The ion source contributed typically 89±19 fg to the blank. Although this was relatively large, its influence depended upon the amount of Pb available for analysis and it had the greatest impact when small volumes of samples with a very low concentration were analysed. A 15 months investigation of the leaching characteristics of Pb from a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) sample storage bottle showed 11 fg cm−2 per day was released immediately following the initial 2 months cleaning process, but this decreased to immeasurable values after a further 3 months of cleaning. 2002 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26200 10.1016/S0003-2670(01)01490-8 Elsevier BV restricted
spellingShingle Vallelonga, Paul
Van de Velde, Katja
Candelone, Jean
Ly, Chi
Rosman, Kevin
Boutron, C.
Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title_full Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title_fullStr Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title_full_unstemmed Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title_short Recent advances in measurement of Pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
title_sort recent advances in measurement of pb isotopes in polar ice and snow at sub-picogram per gram concentrations using thermal ionisation mass spectrometry
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/26200