Review Contents
Geostandards1R Sample Preparation and Dissolution 2R Atomic Absorption Spectrometry 4R Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrometry 4R Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry 5R Mass Spectrometry 8R X-ray Spectrometry 10R Electron Microbeam Techniques 10R Particle-Induced X-ray and γ-Ray Emission 13R Nuclear Methods 13R Miscellaneous Spectroscopic Methods 14R Chromatography 15R Miscellaneous Methods 16R Literature Cited 17RThis review surveys the literature on the chemical analysis of terrestrial and extraterrestrial solids for the two-year period October 1996 to October 1998. We have chosen to expand coverage of geochemistry to include extraterrestrial materials because analyses of these samples on Earth present new challenges to the analytical chemist. We focused upon rocks and minerals and did not include gaseous species. We included aqueous solutions in our survey only where these bore upon geologic processes, but not environmental problems. We carried out comprehensive on-line searches of the pertinent chemistry and geoscience literature to support the reviewers' individual reading and subject expertise. We searched the following databases:(1) GEOREF, established by the American Geological Institute in 1966, is the on-line complement of the printed Bibliography and Index of Geology. It is the most comprehensive database in the geosciences, containing over 2 million references to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, reports, and theses. The particular format used for these searches was the CD-ROM version of the database covering 1996-1998.(2) CAPLUS, produced by the American Chemical Society, is the most current version of Chemical Abstracts Online, including the entire CA Online file from 1967 with additional new and unindexed entries. It covers the world's chemical literature comprehensively, with specific sections on geochemistry and cosmochemistry.In searching each database, we followed two strategies. First, we very broadly searched over the period (1996)(1997)(1998) combining the concept terms for "geochemistry" and "chemical analysis". These searches resulted in large numbers of recordssover 400 from each database. These records were scanned by the reviewers to check for their relevance to the scope of the review. Accordingly, we compiled a list of key terms for specific analytical procedures and carried out follow-up searches using these terms in the context of geochemistry. In addition, we manually searched
