Trace-element microanalysis by LA-ICP-MS: The quest for comprehensive chemical characterisation of single, sub-10 μm volcanic glass shards

Pearce, Nick; Perkins, William H.; Westgate, John A.; Wade, Stephen C.

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.07.012

Cited by 91 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 67 publications

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“…Many elements useful in tephra studies (e.g., Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, REEs) are well below 1 ppm at spatial resolutions of about 20 µm. According to Pearce et al (2010), analyses of glass shards with ablation craters as small as 10 µm in diameter provide high quality, essentially problem-free data, but with smaller sizes the physical process of ablation causes elemental fractionation although that is able to be corrected where it is consistent. Such advances in spatial resolution and sensitivity make it possible generally now to fingerprint fine-grained tephra deposits using a full suite of major-and trace-element data, and will greatly extend the range over which geochemical correlation of tephras potentially can be undertaken .…”

Section: Laser-ablation Icpms and Ion Probe Analysis Of Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Laser-induced "craters", ~20 µm and ~10 µm in diameter, in a glass shard derived from the Minoan eruption of Santorini, Greece. The craters were formed during LA-ICPMS analysis at Aberystwyth University using a Coherent MicroLas ArF2 Excimer laser ablation system operating at 193 nm during a 20-second acquisition (laser energy 10 J cm -2 firing at 5 Hz) (see Pearce et al, 2010). Photo: N.J.G.…”

Section: Laser-ablation Icpms and Ion Probe Analysis Of Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Lowe

2011

Quaternary Geochronology

650

535

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Tephrochronology (from tephra, Gk "ashes") is a unique stratigraphic method for linking, dating, and synchronizing geological, palaeoenvironmental, or archaeological sequences or events. As well as utilizing the Law of Superposition, tephrochronology in practise requires tephra deposits to be characterized (or "fingerprinted") using physical properties evident in the field together with those obtained from laboratory analyses. Such analyses include mineralogical examination (petrography) or geochemical analysis of glass shards or crystals using an electron microprobe or other analytical tools including laser-ablation-based mass spectrometry or the ion microprobe. The palaeoenvironmental or archaeological context in which a tephra occurs may also be useful for correlational purposes. Tephrochronology provides greatest utility when a numerical age obtained for a tephra or cryptotephra is transferrable from one site to another using stratigraphy and by comparing and matching inherent compositional features of the deposits with a high degree of likelihood. Used this way, tephrochronology is an age-equivalent dating method that provides an exceptionally precise volcanic-event stratigraphy. Such age transfers are valid because the primary tephra deposits from an eruption essentially have the same short-lived age everywhere they occur, forming isochrons very soon after the eruption (normally within a year).As well as providing isochrons for palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions, tephras through their geochemical analysis allow insight into volcanic and magmatic processes, and provide a comprehensive record of explosive volcanism and recurrence rates in the Quaternary (or earlier) that can be used to establish time-space relationships of relevance to volcanic hazard analysis.The basis and application of tephrochronology as a central stratigraphic and geochronological tool for Quaternary studies are presented and discussed in this review. Topics covered include principles of tephrochronology, defining isochrons, tephra nomenclature, mapping and correlating tephras from proximal to distal locations at metre-through to sub-3 millimetre-scale, cryptotephras, mineralogical and geochemical fingerprinting methods, numerical and statistical correlation techniques, and developments and applications in dating including the use of flexible depositional age-modelling techniques based on Bayesian statistics.Along with reference to wide-ranging examples and the identification of important recent advances in tephrochronology, such as the development of new geoanalytical approaches that enable individual small glass shards to be analysed near-routinely for major, trace, and rare-earth elements, potential problems such as miscorrelation, erroneous-age transfer, and tephra reworking and taphonomy (especially relating to cryptotephras) are also examined. Some of the challenges for future tephrochronological studies include refining geochemical analytical methods further, improving understanding of cryptotephra dis...

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Section: Laser-ablation Icpms and Ion Probe Analysis Of Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Laser-ablation Icpms and Ion Probe Analysis Of Glassmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tephrochronology and its application: A review

Lowe

2011

Quaternary Geochronology

650

535

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“…Glass shards from both marine and ice-core records were analysed under the same microprobe operating conditions. The LA-ICP-MS analysis employed a 10 mm laser spot size and followed the methodology of Pearce et al (2011). Two samples (NGRIP 2742.85 m andNGRIP 2745.60 m) could not be analysed by LA-ICP-MS because of a damaged sample slide and small shard sizes, respectively.…”

Section: New Ngrip Cryptotephras: Age and Geochemical Signaturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A North Atlantic tephrostratigraphical framework for 130–60 ka b2k: new tephra discoveries, marine-based correlations, and future challenges

Davies

Abbott

Meara

et al. 2014

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tBuilding chronological frameworks for proxy sequences spanning 130e60 ka b2k is plagued by difficulties and uncertainties. Recent developments in the North Atlantic region, however, affirm the potential offered by tephrochronology and specifically the search for cryptotephra. Here we review the potential offered by tephrostratigraphy for sequences spanning 130e60 ka b2k. We combine newly identified cryptotephra deposits from the NGRIP ice-core and a marine core from the Iceland Basin with previously published data from the ice and marine realms to construct the first tephrostratigraphical framework for this time-interval. Forty-three tephra or cryptotephra deposits are incorporated into this framework; twenty three tephra deposits are found in the Greenland ice-cores, including nine new NGRIP tephras, and twenty separate deposits are preserved in various North Atlantic marine sequences. Major, minor and trace element results are presented for the new NGRIP horizons together with age estimates based on their position within the ice-core record. Basaltic tephras of Icelandic origin dominate the framework with only eight tephras of rhyolitic composition found. New results from marine core MD99-2253 also illustrate some of the complexities and challenges of assessing the depositional integrity of marine cryptotephra deposits. Tephra-based correlations in the marine environment provide independent tie-points for this time-interval and highlight the potential of widening the application of tephrochronology. Further investigations, however, are required, that combine robust geochemical fingerprinting and a rigorous assessment of tephra depositional processes, in order to trace coeval events between the two depositional realms.

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“…Even if comprehensive records of all eruptions can be collated it is also likely that the products of some eruptions will not be able to be divided based on their major-element chemical signatures, while the small and highly vesicular shards reported here (with available analytical surfaces frequently less than 10 mm in size) make obtaining trace element data problematic (Tomlinson et al, 2010;Pearce et al, 2011). In Sections 4 and 5.2 we have identified key marker layers (the Plinian eruptions of Vesuvius) and then used these to provide a delimiting framework for the SA03-11 sequence.…”

Section: Implications For Future Tephrochronological Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%