Abstract:
This study presented a newly developed multi-static U-Th isotopic measurement method. For U isotopes, firstly, the
234U was measured on the SEM and simultaneously, the signals of
233U,
235U,
236U and
238U were measured in Faraday cups. Secondly,
236U was collected on the SEM, and the
233U,
234U,
235U and
238U were measured in Faraday cups. The ratio of
236U
SEM/
233U
FC (the ratio of SEM to Faraday cup measurement corrected for mass fractionation) was used to monitor the SEM/Faraday cup relative yield. The
238U/
235U ratio was used for instrumental mass fractionation correction by comparing the measured value with the natural value. For Th isotopes, the
229Th and
230Th were alternately measured on SEM and
232Th in a Faraday cup. Th isotopic measurements were carried out immediately after the U measurements from a same sample. The correction factors of SEM/Faraday cup relative yield and instrumental mass fractionation determined in U measurements were used for Th isotopic data corrections. The ideal ion beam intensities for measurements are 3-6 mV for
236U, 5-15 V for
238U (equivalent to 10
11 Ω amplifier), <10
5 cps for
229Th and
230Th. The U and Th isotope data are usually acquired 200-400 cycles taking 20-30 min. To test the reliability of this method, the U isotopic standard Harwell uraninite (HU-1) was repeatedly measured and yielded a mean
δ234U value of (-0.48±1.92)‰ (±2
σ,
n =55), which is in agreement with the data previously published by different laboratories. In this study, the multi-static method was applied to six in-house secondary carbonate standards, SB-530,SB-8600, SB-108K, SB-240K, SB-335K and SB-435K. The repeated measurements suggest that the six standards have U content of 500-3 000 ng/g and Th content of 0.1-1.0 ng/g. Their
δ234U values range from 95 to 1030, and
230Th/
238U ratios range from 0.01 to 1.33. Their error weighted mean ages are (0.53±0.01), (8.61±0.01), (107.6±0.2), (239.4±0.8), (332.8±1.9) and (437±5) ka, respectively. These results were confirmed by the comparative study using the SEM method carried out in the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This study demonstrates that the newly developed U-Th isotopic measurement method can routinely measure the
234U/
238U and
230Th/
238U ratios at the precision of 1‰-3‰, but its reliability needs to be further validated by more international standards.