Resonant laser-SNMS of boron for analysis of paleoceanographic samples

摘要

Calcite shells of foraminifera, which are accumulated in the ocean sediment, are an important object of paleoceanographic studies to reconstruct environmental parameters of the past. Foraminifera are unicellular organisms living in almost all parts of the ocean during the entire paleoceanographic time scale. The isotope ratio of boron incorporated in the calcite shell delivers information about the pH-value of the ocean at the time the shell was formed. Since the boron fraction of such a shell is about 5 ppm, an extremely sensitive technique is necessary for an exact boron isotope ratio determination. Resonant laser secondary neutral mass spectrometry (r-laser-SNMS) was used to measure boron isotope ratios in calcite shells.