On-site Determination of Element Concentrations in Marine Sediments and Comparative Study of Analytical Methods

Epsilon 3(x) energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (EDXRF) was used to analyze the major and minor elements in marine sediments collected from the Indian Ocean on-site. Results obtained by EDXRF were compared with those by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) in the laboratory A total of 24 elements in marine sediment samples, namely Al2O3, MgO, Fe2O3, Na2O, K2O, CaO, Mn, P, Ti, Ba, Sr, V, Zn, Zr, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, Rb, Y, Nb, Mo, Nd, Pb and Th were measured, and a good agreement was found for these elements (R-2 > 0. 9), except for Al2O3, and Ga, Nb and Th with content lower than 30 mu g/g. The mean relative deviations of EDXRF method were less than 10% for all of the above mentioned major elements, except for MgO in low concentration and P in high concentration. The mean relative deviations were less than 25% for all of the above mentioned trace elements, except for Sr (>700 mu g/g), Mo (<20 mu g/g) and Nb. In general, precision and accuracy of EDXRF method were good enough for detection of marine sediments. Taking into account all these facts, the EDXRF method proposed here was proved to be an effective tool for element determination in marine sediment on-site, and it would provide a new technical support to investigate the spatial distribution of mineral resources in marine geological survey.