ACCURATE QUANTIFICATION OF MELT INCLUSION CHEMISTRY BY LA-ICPMS: A COMPARISON WITH EMP AND SIMS AND ADVANTAGES AND POSSIBLE LIMITATIONS OF THESE METHODS

Abstract

Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) has recently emerged as a powerful in situ microanalytical technique for major to trace elements in heterogeneous samples such as fluid and melt inclusions. Here, a rigorous comparison of melt inclusion (MI) data acquired by electron microprobe (EMP), ion microprobe (the secondary ion mass spectrometry, SIMS) and LA-ICPMS is used to evaluate the applicability and advantages/drawbacks of these approaches. We are specifically interested in determining if LA-ICPMS data on entire, unexposed, crystallized MI that cannot be homogenized in the lab are accurate and of a useful precision.