Browsing by Author "McKiernan, Breege"

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    Accurate and Precise Iron Isotope Amount Ratios Measured by Multi-Collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer
    (2013-09-16) McKiernan, Breege; Wieser, Michael
    An analytical technique to accurately measure iron isotope amount ratios by multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer was developed. The analytical technique consisted of sample purification using ion exchange chromatography and measurement by the mass spectrometer. Numerous factors affecting the measured data including magnet stability, and chromium interferences were encountered during development. At the completion of this projects, the precision in δ(56/54Fe) is 0.09 ‰. Iron isotope measurements were completed on three data sets: a source identification study for the Cardium formation, anoxic brine samples from Lake Vida and a bioremediation study for Nova Chemicals. For the Cardium formation no definite source of iron can be identified based solely on the iron data. Similarly with the Lake Vida samples, three possible mechanisms are discussed which could produce the unique δ(56/54Fe) values. For the bioremediation study, the data highlight difficulties during sample acquisition and improvements to sample acquisition are suggested.