Uranium Isotope Ratios of Twenty‐nine Geological Rock Reference Materials Measured by MC‐ICP‐MS

Abstract

Uranium isotope ratios are reported for twenty‐nine geological reference materials (RMs) including igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, as well as sediments. Measurements were conducted on a multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer (MC‐ICP‐MS) using the 233U‐236U double spike technique. These RMs possess a wide range of matrices with U mass fractions ranging from 0.11 μg g‐1 to 18.7 μg g‐1. The δ234/238U values (relative to the n(234U)/n(238U) ratio at secular equilibrium) show minor fluctuations around the secular equilibrium value except for two Pleistocene speleothem RMs. The δ238/235U values (relative to the value for NBL CRM 112a (NBS SRM 960)) of igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks are within the range of the continental crust value (‐0.29 ± 0.03‰, 95% CI). The δ238/235U value for sedimentary rock and sediment RMs spans a wide range of 0.98‰, suggesting significant 238U/235U isotopic fractionation in low temperature environments. The range of δ238/235U RMs reported in this study (‐0.63‰ to 0.35‰) exceeds that of previous RMs (‐0.61‰ to 0.17‰), allowing inter‐laboratory calibration of wider ranges of geological and environmental samples.