Laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer for geofluids and geomaterials research

• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: Funded in 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 410862225

Laser-ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of solid materials and fluid and melt inclusions is becoming widely used in Earth and Materials Sciences. Modern powerful excimer laserablation systems coupled to state-of-the-art fast and high-sensitivity ICP mass spectrometers facilitate fundamental breakthroughs in the multi-element analysis of fluid inclusions and of trace metals in minerals, as demonstrated by our track record in research on metal concentrations in ore-forming geological fluids and the formation of major economic mineral deposits. We therefore apply for a funding for a new LA-ICP-MS system composed of an 193 nm excimer laser-ablation system suitable for fluid inclusion research (upgradable with infrared optics for application to opaque host minerals) and a next-generation fast and sensitive quadrupole ICP-MS instrument. This will make it possible to perform frontier research in geofluids and geomaterials, including the sources and partitioning of halogens in crustal fluids, the transport and deposition of critical metals in hydrothermal systems, the formation of world-class ore deposits, the concentration of ore metals in opaque ore minerals, the chemistry of fluids in salt systems, and the behavior of trace metals and halogens in hydrocarbon fluids.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer for geofluids and geomaterials research
• Instrumentation Group: 1700 Massenspektrometer
• Applicant Institution: Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Thomas Wagner