Abstract. Recent advances in laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) open new perspectives for quantification of trace
metals and metalloids in mineral-hosted fluid inclusions and glass-hosted
gas bubbles. This work is devoted to a new method applied to quantify
element concentrations (at parts-per-million and weight percent levels) in natural and synthetic
fluid inclusions and gas bubbles by using only an external calibrator in
cases where internal standardization is unavailable. For example, this
method can be applied to calculate element (metal and metalloid)
concentrations in carbonic (C–O–H) fluid inclusions and bubbles. The method
is devoted to measuring incompatible (with the host mineral and glass)
trace elements originally dissolved into the trapped fluid. The method
requires precise estimation of the fluid density, the inclusion/bubble
volume or average radius, and measurement of the laser ablation crater
radius by independent microanalytical techniques as well as accurate data
on the concentration of major/minor elements compatible with the host mineral
(or host glass). This method, applicable for analyses of hydrous
carbonic fluid inclusions and gas bubbles hosted in silicate minerals and
glasses, relies on the absence of a matrix effect between fluid, host
mineral and daughter phases (silicate, oxide or sulfide) and the external
calibrator (e.g., reference silicate glasses) during the LA-ICP-MS analysis,
an assumption validated by the use of femtosecond lasers.
Combined LA-ICP-MS and cryo-SEM-EDS: An improved technique for quantitative analysis of major, minor, and trace elements in fluid inclusions in halite