DETERMINATION OF RARE-EARTH ELEMENTS IN PRECAMBRIAN SEDIMENTS AT ISUABY INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied to t he determination of rare earth elements (REEs) in Precambrian sediment s which contain high concentrations of iron [1.5-62% measured by instr umental neutron activation analysis (INAA)]. Although a large suppress ion effect was observed owing to a huge amount of iron, the suppressio n effect was corrected for by using both In and Bi as internal standar ds, and reliable analytical results could be obtained, It was found th at the interference of oxide ions was not so significant for the deter mination of REEs, The REE data obtained by ICP-MS are in relatively go od agreement (within 10%) with those by INAA, The precision of the ana lytical results obtained by ICP-MS was 1-14% when using internal stand ards.