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Updated: Jan 8, 2026
Preparation of Authigenic Pyrite from Methane-bearing Sediments for In Situ Sulfur Isotope Analysis Using SIMS
Published on: August 31, 2017
High Spatial Resolution (< 10 μm) Zircon SIMS Zr Isotope Analysis
Sheng He1,2,3, Yang Li4, Liguang Wu5
1State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Rationale:
Zircon Zr isotopic variations hold great potential for tracing magmatic crystallization and differentiation processes, although the mechanisms of Zr isotopic fractionation remain highly debated. High spatial resolution, nearly non-destructive Zr isotopic analysis of zircon, allows for a more detailed investigation of Zr isotopic variations in structurally complex or tiny zircons.
Methods:
This study systematically optimized key parameters (e.g., primary beam current, beam diameter, raster size,and signal acquisition time) and further evaluated the topography effect using dynamic transfer parameters, ultimately establishing a high spatial resolution secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) method for zircon Zr isotope microanalysis.
Results:
The internal precision (twice the standard error [2SE]) for δ94Zr measurements in zircon reference materials (i.e., Mudtank, Penglai, Plešovice, Tanz) ranged from 0.07‰ to 0.16‰, with external reproducibility better than 0.15‰ (twice the standard deviation [2SD]). The Zr isotopic compositions of reference materials measured by SIMS agree remarkably well with the recommended values by double-spike solution methods. Our method consumes ~0.05 ng of mineral material in a single spot analysis with a high spatial resolution of ~10 × 9 μm2 and a pit depth of ~0.5 μm.
Conclusions:
This nearly nondestructive technique is suitable for analyzing structurally complex or precious samples, such as zircon from lunar soil, advancing the study of magmatic processes.
