Simultaneous Determination of Mass-dependent Isotopic Fractionation and Radiogenic Isotope Variation of Strontium in Geochemical Samples by Multiple Collector-ICP-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

We present a method to determine (88)Sr/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr simultaneously. The former variation reflects the mass-dependent isotopic fractionation through the physico-chemical processes, and the latter originates from beta(-)-decay of the parent nuclide (87)Rb as well as the mass-dependent isotopic fractionation. In order to determine the mass-dependent isotopic fractionation, the mass-discrimination effect on (88)Sr/(86)Sr was externally corrected by an exponential law using Zr. For the radiogenic growth of (87)Sr/(86)Sr, the mass-dependent isotopic fractionation effect on (87)Sr/(86)Sr was corrected by a conventional correction technique using the (88)Sr/(86)Sr ratio. The reproducibility of the (88)Sr/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr measurements for a high-purity Sr chemical reagent was 0.06 per thousand (2SD, n = 20) and 0.07 per thousand (2SD, n = 20), respectively. Strontium isotopic ratios ((88)Sr/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr) were measured on six geochemical reference materials (igneous rock: JB-1a and JA-2; carbonate mineral: JLs-1, JDo-1, JCp-1 and JCt-1) and one seawater sample. The resulting (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios obtained here were consistent with previously published data within the analytical uncertainties. The resulting (88)Sr/(86)Sr ratios for igneous rock samples did not vary significantly within the samples, whereas the carbonate samples showed enrichments of the lighter Sr isotopes over the seawater sample. The (88)Sr/(86)Sr ratio of geochemical samples could reflect the physico-chemical processes for the sample formation. Also, a combined discussion of (88)Sr/(86)Sr and (87)Sr/(86)Sr of samples will render multi-dimensional information on geochemical processes.