Stable isotope applications of AMS in geology

The subject of geochemistry has become increasingly concerned with the distribution of trace elements in and between mineral phases. Part per million detection is routine, but part per billion measurements are, for certain elements, beyond the range of such sensitive analytical methods as neutron activation analysis (NAA). Tandem AMS has the ability to extend this limit several orders of magnitude for those elements which readily form negative ions. There is no doubt that such information can be most valuable for elements which are partitioned strongly between different mineral phases. While bulk analyses may indicate trace levels of certain elements to be present in a rock, it has always been difficult to state with certainty whether the trace element occurs at a uniformly low level throughout the various phases, or whether it is concentrated at a high level in small grains of an extremely rare phase scattered through the rock. The milli- or micro-probe analytical capability, which can be part of AMS, enables such problems concerning ultra-low level element concentrations to be tackled. With the same approach isotopic ratios of both major and minor elements in microgram amounts of material may be undertaken