icpTOF Multi-Elemental Imaging Characterizes Trace Elements in Subduction Zone Studies

icpTOF Multi-Elemental Imaging Characterizes Trace Elements in Subduction Zone Studies

Sediment-Peridotite Reaction Controls Fore-Arc Metasomatism and Arc Magma Geochemical Signatures 

Michael W. Förster, Yannick Bussweiler, Dejan Prelevic, Nathan R. Daczko, Stephan Buhre, Regina Mertz-Kraus, Stephen F. Foley 
Geosciences, 2021
DOI: 10.3390/geosciences11090372

In this study, Förster and co-workers set out to simulate subduction zone processes by performing high-pressure, high-temperature experiments. Reactions were simulated between marine sediment, which is transported on top of subducted slabs, and peridotite, which is the major rock type of the Earth’s mantle. The reaction products were investigated with a range of analytical methods, including laser ablation inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-TOFMS). Multi-elemental imaging by LA-ICP-TOFMS, using TOFWERK’s icpTOF R, revealed the distribution of trace elements within the different layers produced in the experiments. The results of this study help to explain the elemental signatures of certain magma types typically found above subduction zones. 

Feature Image: Förster et al. Sediment-Peridotite Reaction Controls Fore-Arc Metasomatism and Arc Magma Geochemical Signatures. Geosciences, 2021. Figure 3