Laser Ablation ICP-MS in the Earth Sciences: Current Practices and Outstanding Issues

摘要

There are few analytical techniques in the geosciences that evolve so rapidly that a new book describing the current state-of-the-art is warranted just seven years after publication of the previous book describing the current state-of-the-art. However, if any technique warrants this sort of introspection, it is certainly laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Volume 40 of the Mineralogical Association of Canada's short course series revisits the general topic of Volume 29 of the same series: LA-ICP-MS in the earth sciences. Volume 40 contains 16 chapters and nine appendices and includes contributions from more than 50 scientists from around the world. The quality of information and presentation in Volume 40 is high and, as with Volume 29, many chapters are written by pioneers in the LA-ICP-MS field who have the benefit of years of experience in technique development and application. In fact, Volume 40 contains contributions by nearly all the authors that contributed to Volume 29. In addition, it contains contributions from numerous new authors, giving Volume 40 wide appeal and a more diverse range of topics. The increased number of contributors is an improvement that reflects the explosion of interest in LA-ICP-MS analyses during the intervening seven years. For those who do not have their own copy of Volume 29, a nice bonus of purchasing Volume 40 is that a digital version of Volume 29 is included on CD.