An investigation of factors affecting high-precision Sr isotope analyses (87Sr/86Sr and {\delta}88/86Sr) by MC-ICP-MS

TL;DR

This study identifies key factors affecting the precision and accuracy of Sr isotope measurements using Zr-doped SSB via MC-ICP-MS and demonstrates improved procedures to achieve reproducibility comparable to DS-TIMS.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive evaluation of factors influencing Sr isotope analysis accuracy and introduces optimized protocols for high-precision measurements with MC-ICP-MS.

Findings

Incomplete Sr recovery impacts measurement precision.

Matching Sr and Zr concentrations improves accuracy.

Optimized procedures achieve reproducibility similar to DS-TIMS.

Abstract

The abundance and fractionation of the stable strontium (Sr) isotope system are being increasingly utilized to move forward our understanding in geological and cosmological processes. Two analytical techniques are commonly used to measure stable Sr isotopes: 1) double-spike thermal ionization mass spectrometry (DS-TIMS) and 2) Zr-doped sample-standard bracketing multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Zr-doped SSB via MC-ICP-MS). Relative to DS-TIMS, Zr-doped SSB via MC-ICP-MS allows simultaneous determinations of both 87Sr/86Sr and 88Sr/86Sr ratios, increasing measurement efficiency and sample throughput. However, this technique is currently associated with greater uncertainties in measurement precision and accuracy. In this study, we evaluated potential factors that can affect the quality of Sr isotope measurements during Zr-doped SSB. Our tests show that incomplete Sr recovery during chromatographic separation, mismatches of Sr and Zr concentrations and acid molarity between sample and bracketing standard, and cation contamination could all affect the precision and accuracy of Sr isotope measurements. We present evidence that, with updated preparation procedures and diligent concentration checks, a long-term reproducibility (2{\sigma}SD: 87Sr/86Sr = +/-0.000015 and {\delta}88/86Sr = +/-0.03 permil) comparable to that of DS-TIMS is achievable when using the Zr-doped SSB method via MC-ICP-MC.