High precision radium ratio and concentration measurement in seawater

11 Mar 2011

This paper presents a new analytical technique for the high-precision measurement of ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratios and Ra concentrations in seawater by multi-collector ICP mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). Yu-Te Hsieh and Gideon M. Henderson from the University of Oxford, UK, demonstrate that the technique, relative to commonly used decay-counting approaches, has a lower detection limit and higher precision. This technique will allow study of ²²⁸Ra in the ocean interior where concentrations are low and will extend the powerful use of this isotope to understand mixing and trace element fluxes in the oceans.