Zhaochu Hu

• China University of Geosciences

A new gem‐quality zircon reference material, S513, was developed for in situ microbeam U‐Th‐Pb, (U‐Th)/He geochronology and Hf‐O isotope measurement. The well‐cut gem‐quality zircon weighed 51.3 carats. Its U, Th, Pb and Hf mass fractions were 924 ± 64.6 μg g ⁻¹ (2 s ), 89.6 ± 3.92 μg g ⁻¹ (2 s ), 119 ± 5.20 μg g ⁻¹ (2 s ) and 8259 ± 244 μg g ⁻¹ (2...

Mass-dependent titanium (Ti) isotopic variations in Ti-rich minerals as geological tracers are commonly measured by laser ablation (LA) coupled to multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). A high-precision method...

Nanoparticles within lunar soil grains are a primary product of space weathering. The microstructural and chemical characteristics of the nanoparticles are diverse and their formation mechanisms are still under debate. In this paper, for the first time, tadpole‐shaped nanoparticles (with Fe‐Ni(‐S) head and Fe‐Ti‐O tail) were found in the impact mel...

Plain Language Summary Subduction‐driven recycling of S plays a key role in the redox evolution of the mantle, the formation of ore deposits, and climatic impact through volcanic emission of SO2. Altered oceanic crust (AOC) is the largest contributor to the subducted S budget but the role of AOC in the deep cycling of S remains poorly constrained....

Iron isotope ratios in magnetite have been widely used to reveal critical geological and biological processes. Laser ablation multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS) is ideally suited for measurement of Fe isotope ratios, however the lack of suitable reference materials poses a significant challenge for in situ F...

The lithospheric mantle affected by metasomatism is an important reservoir for halogens and often preserves significant heterogeneity in halogen abundances. However, the halogen compositions of the non-metasomatized mantle rocks with depleted geochemical features have not been well studied, impeding a comprehensive understanding of the halogen dist...

Mantle metasomatism, which affects the geochemical and lithological properties of the Earth, is crucial to the evolution and modification of the Earth's interior. Variations in chemical proxy of metasomatism, including high‐field strength elements (HFSE, e.g., Zr‐Ti isotopes and isovalent Zr‐Hf), have been commonly utilized as a tool to unravel the...

The giant Jiaodong gold deposits represent one of the largest gold provinces (>5000 tons of Au) in the North China Craton of eastern China. They formed ∼1.7 b.y. after high-grade metamorphism of the crust. The metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) has been increasingly proposed as the main source of such gold mineralization, but t...

The purification of Mg requires the separation of Mg from matrix elements, which is the prerequisite for the accurate determination of Mg isotopic compositions. With the rapid development of instrumental technology, the purification process has played an important role in affecting the efficiency of isotopic measurement. This study reported a highl...

In this study, a rapid and simple lithium metaborate fusion technique using a homemade fusion furnace and graphite crucibles was developed for the determination of major and trace elements in...

The new purification procedure for Ni isotope analysis presented here is both economical and time-efficient, improving the ability for further investigation of Ni isotope geochemistry in various geological and environmental systems.

A simple, fast and efficient column separation method for extracting Zr from geological sample matrices using DGA resin.

The method of LA-MC-ICP-MS has become one choice for the analysis of many isotopic systems due to its relatively low cost, high analysis speed, high spatial resolution, and low matrix effect. However, there are still many challenges in the accuracy, precision, and spatial resolution of in situ isotopic composition determination by LA-MC-ICP-MS, whi...

S‐Fe‐Cu isotope systems are powerful tracers for revealing geochemical processes. However, the microanalysis of S‐Fe‐Cu isotopes is critically limited by the lack of suitable reference materials. Herein, we present three potential reference materials Ll‐Cpy (chalcopyrite), Ll‐Po (pyrrhotite) and Ll‐Sp (sphalerite) for in situ S‐Fe‐Cu isotope measur...

Plain Language Summary Stable Zr isotopes of zircon have been proposed as a new and promising tracer for magmatic differentiation. However, how significant heterogeneity of Zr isotopes developed at the mineral scale in an evolving magma is highly debatable. Ab initio simulation calculations, experiments, and natural sampling have suggested that kin...

Halogens and other volatiles are widely recycled into the deep mantle by subduction and are key components to metasomatize the sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM). Lamprophyres are well known to be rich in volatiles and are important for understanding the halogen characteristics of the meta-somatized SCLM and/or the mobilization of halogens...

Iron‐titanium oxides such as ilmenite (FeTiO 3 ), titanite (CaTiSiO 5 ) and perovskite (CaTiO 3 ) are the common Ti‐rich mineral phases crystallised during magmatic and metamorphic processes on Earth. Depending on magma types or conditions of phase equilibria, formation of these Ti‐rich minerals can result in Ti isotopic fractionation in the range...

Zircon is a key accessary mineral for metamorphic geochronology and geochemical tracing, but it has been a challenge to interpret its complex chemical zoning and age record acquired during multiple episodes of anatectic metamorphism in collisional orogens. This is illustrated by a combined study of petrography, phase equilibrium modeling and metamo...

In situ U‐Pb geochronology and hafnium, oxygen and zirconium isotope measurements in zircons using laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) and ion microprobe techniques can provide essential isotopic data to constrain geological evolutionary histories. Developing reliable zircon reference materials is the cornerstone...

The lunar basalt samples returned by the Chang’e-5 mission erupted about 2.0 billion years ago during the late period of the Moon’s secular cooling. The conditions of mantle melting in the source region and the migration of magma through the thick lithosphere that led to this relatively late lunar volcanism remain open questions. Here we combine qu...

Young lunar mare basalts are recent volcanic products distributed mainly in the Procellarum-KREEP-Terrane. However, these young basalts were never investigated in situ until 2013 by Chang’e-3, and then sampled by Chang’e-5 in 2020. Using the returned Chang’e-5 samples as ground truth, and examining Moon Mineralogy Mapper data globally, we found the...

Stable zirconium (Zr) isotope of magmatic zircons is a promising new tracer to understand magma differentiation in the continental crust. However, magmatic processes controlling zircon Zr isotopic variations remain poorly constrained. Here we present high-spatial-resolution in-situ methods on magmatic zircons for U-Pb age, trace elements, Hf isotop...

Zirconium, as a high field strength element, has been widely used to trace the differentiation of terrestrial planets. It is also a major constituent in zircon, an important accessory mineral providing constraints on the history of the Earth. Recently, stable Zr isotopes have shown potential in tracing magma differentiation. To fuel the application...

The lack of analytical techniques for halogens in geological materials is mainly due to the loss of analytes in sample preparation. This study describes a rapid bulk rock digestion method (NH4F digestion) for determination of the abundances of Cl, Br and I in geological materials by SF‐ICP‐MS. During high temperature (200–240 °C) digestion, NH3 rel...

Mantle-derived magmas widely underplated the lower crust of eastern North China Craton (NCC) during the large-scale extension in the Mesozoic. The giant Jiaodong gold deposits formed at 120 ± 5 Ma, slightly later than the extensive magma underplating. It remains poorly constrained whether the magma underplating had pre-enriched the crust in signifi...

The Permian basalts in the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) are crucial for constraining the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. However, the origin of these basalts is still under discussion. Here, we present comprehensive bulk-rock geochemical, Sr−Nd−Pb−Hf isotopic, and zircon U−Pb−Lu−Hf isotopic data of the Liuyuan basalts and coexisting gabbros...

In this study, a rapid method for the quantification of sulfur mass fractions in geological materials using high‐resolution sector field inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (SF‐ICP‐MS ) was developed. The effects of HNO3, Lefort, aqua regia, and HCl on the recoveries of sulfur in three different geological samples were evaluated. It was fo...

The successful return of lunar soil samples from the northern Oceanus Procellarum by the Chang’E 5 (CE-5) mission has provided unprecedented ground-truth information for the previously unexplored region of the Moon. In particular, the particle size and mineral constituents of the CE-5 soil samples are of critical importance to interpret remote sens...

Lunar soil is a fine mixture of local rocks and exotic components. The bulk-rock chemical composition of the newly returned Chang’E-5 (CE-5) lunar soil was studied to understand its chemical homogeneity, exotic additions, and origin of landing site basalts. Concentrations of 48 major and trace elements, including many low-concentration volatile and...

In this study, we measure the absolute isotope ratios of ytterbium (Yb) by multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) using an optimized regression model for mass bias correction. A rhenium (Re) reference material (NIST SRM 3143), which has been characterized previously, is selected as a primary calibrator to calibrate...

Strontium isotope composition is a powerful proxy to track the source and evolution of a range of geological processes in magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic environments. Owing to the mobility of...

Lunar mare basalts provide a probe to study the magmatic and thermal evolution of the Moon. The Chang'e-5 (CE-5) mission returned samples from a young and hitherto unsampled mare terrain, providing fresh opportunities to understand lunar volcanic history. A detailed petrologic survey was conducted in this study on basalt fragments and glasses from...

The Carnian Pluvial Event (CPE) was an interval marked by global climatic and environmental change, along with biotic turnover, which occurred during the early Late Triassic. Although the causes and consequences of this event remain unclear, one possible scenario is enhanced volcanism injecting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, perturbing the g...

Ocean island basalts (OIBs) with Zn isotopic ratios higher than the normal mantle (δ⁶⁶Zn = 0.17 ± 0.08‰) or mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORBs; δ⁶⁶Zn = 0.27 ± 0.06‰) generally also have an enriched Sr-Nd isotopic signature, suggesting carbonate-bearing eclogites, whose protolith is inferred to be subducting altered oceanic crust, in their mantle source...

Lower crustal sulfide-bearing cumulates beneath the convergent plate margins represent a major copper reservoir. However, how Cu is mobilized and migrated in the lower crust is still a matter of debate. Here, we analyzed the Cu elemental and isotopic compositions of well-characterized lower crustal xenoliths from the north margin of the North China...

Alkaline basalts occur widely in intraplate settings and carbonate-bearing mantle sources such as carbonated peridotites are increasingly regarded to play a key role in their formation. Carbonated eclogites, most likely the products of subducted carbonate-bearing altered oceanic crust, are probable ingredients in the mantle sources of many intrapla...

Green-core clinopyroxene (GCPX) widely occurs in diverse magmas and various tectonic settings. Due to its special textual and compositional zonation, it is usually considered as solid evidence for involvement of exotic felsic melt and some unique geological processes (e.g., magma mixing, mantle metasomatism and recycling of foundered lower continen...

Microanalysis of Fe and S isotopes in sulfides by laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) has been used as an important tool to identify the material sources...

Knowledge of the elemental composition of geological samples is of high significance to research in Earth science. For whole‐rock elemental determination, complete sample digestion is essential to obtain bias‐free measurement results. In recent years, NH4HF2 digestion has been proposed for geological sample dissolution, however this requires 3 h of...

We proposed a new laser analytical mode, which used the high-frequency laser ablation to deliberately obtain the peak-shape signal profile, combined with the linear regression calibration (LRC) method to calculate elemental or isotopic ratios. In order to access the performance of the new laser analytical mode for the application in the field of ea...

We present a detailed characterization of Tanz zircon megacrysts for the microbeam determination of U-Pb ages, Zr isotopes, Hf isotopes, O isotopes and trace element mass fractions. This batch of dark brown zircon megacrysts from Tanzania contains 269 ± 103 μg g-1 U (Th/U ~ 0.154), and its total weight is 9.06 kg. The largest Tanz zircon megacryst...

The metasomatized sub-continental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) is increasingly proposed to play a key control in the formation of giant gold (Au) deposits. However, the extent of Au enrichment in metasomatized SCLM and the Au contents of its derivative partial melts remain poorly constrained. Lamprophyres are derived from low-degree melting of metaso...

Zircon U-Pb geochronology and Hf-O isotope composition can provide important information on geological events. The matrix-matched reference material is routinely used to yield accurate and precise zircon U-Pb ages and...

Alkaline magmas play a key in understanding crust-mantle interaction and deep carbon recycling. Here, petrography and in situ mineral analyses of evolved alkaline rocks from the North China Craton are reported to decipher mantle metasomatism by recycled carbonated sediments via reconstruction of primary magma composition. The alkaline rocks are nep...

A combined study of garnet and zircon from the same growth stages can provide effective constraints on the pressure-temperature-time path of metamorphic processes. This is illustrated by distinguishing different episodes of garnet and zircon in metabasites from North Qaidam. Two different garnet domains grown under eclogite- and granulite-facies co...

Investigation of the end-Permian mass extinction (EPME) has been greatly facilitated by high-resolution conodont biostratigraphic studies. To date, however, a detailed biostratigraphic framework has been lacking for shallow-marine successions of the Tethys region. In the present study, we analyzed carbonate microfacies, conodont biostratigraphy, an...

Bastnäsite is widespread in alkali granite, carbonatite and REE ore deposits. The U-Th-Pb ages of bastnäsite can constrain the mineralization age. Currently, the lack of suitable in situ analysis reference material is the major obstacle of bastnäsite U-Th-Pb geochronology. In this study, the matrix effects of U-Pb and Th-Pb age determination in bas...

The Jiaodong gold deposits, eastern China define a giant gold province in the Precambrian high-grade metamorphic crustal basement. Given the early metamorphism, the crustal basement would have been so depleted in gold that cannot be the main source for the later Mesozoic gold deposits. However, previously reported gold contents from crustal rocks w...

The oxygen fugacity of a magma controlling element distribution and mobility is influenced by multiple factors including source composition and magmatic processes (e.g., assimilation and degassing). Here, whole-rock and in situ mineral analyses of the alkaline complex from the northern North China Craton are reported to investigate the influence of...

High precise and accurate measurements of Fe isotope ratios for fourteen reference materials from the USGS, MPI-DING and CGSG were successfully carried out using a developed analytical technique by fs...

A simple method for immobilizing powder samples was proposed to prepare calibration standards for the analyses of bulk elemental compositions of solid samples by LA-ICP-MS. Upon mixing with epoxy resin, the multielement doped powder was transformed into a stable and mechanically resistant target. Using this method, a sulfide standard, RPSS (resin p...

BACKGROUND: Usually, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis is equipped with a closed ablation cell. It cannot be used for non-destructive analysis of the large-size samples which exceeds the size of the cell. OBJECTIVES: To realize directly in situ non-destructive analysis of major and trace elements in th...

The accurate calibration of Li isotope ratio analysis was implemented by a simple and easy-to-operate sample-standard bracketing (SSB) calibration method using nanosecond laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ns-LA-MC-ICP-MS). The method requires stable instrumental conditions to ensure similar or same mass bi...

High analytical sensitivity and minimized spectral interference are prerequisites for precise and accurate analysis of ultra-trace REEs (Rare Earth Elements) in geological samples (e.g., carbonates and peridotites). In this study, we designed a new heating-condensing system for the direct determination of ultra-trace REEs in carbonates and peridoti...

Extreme greenhouse warming in the latest Permian played a key role in the largest animal extinction event ever recorded in Earth history. The extinction was likely triggered by volcanic eruptions that dramatically increased atmospheric CO2 levels and pushed the Earth system into a lethally hot greenhouse state with stratified, anoxic and more acidi...

Carbonates in subducting oceanic slabs can survive beyond slab dehydration and be transferred into the deep mantle. Such deep carbon cycling plays a critical role in generating carbonatitic to alkaline melts. However, whether and how this process has influenced the lithospheric mantle still remains enigmatic. To address these issues, here we provid...

Significance Zircon, a common accessory mineral in crustal rocks, records plentiful and critical information on the Earth’s history. The isotopes of its major component, Zr, could be another powerful but unexplored tracer. We apply high-precision, high–spatial-resolution, in situ laser ablation Zr isotope measurements of magmatic zircons in contine...

Similar to the U‐Pb system, the 232Th‐208Pb decay scheme is also widely utilised in geochronology of Th‐rich accessory minerals. The matrix‐dependent systemic deviations observed between different accessory minerals and the paucity of well‐characterised reference materials for some minerals of interest (e.g., xenotime, allanite) are the major obsta...

We report stable Zr isotope compositions of four common natural zircon grains: Penglai, 91500, GJ-1 and Mud Tank, and 22 whole rocks reference materials which include fifteen magmatic rocks, one metamorphic rock, six sediments or sedimentary rocks. In addition, the isotopic calibration of the three Zr standard solutions used in different publicatio...

Reference materials (RMs) are the foundation in isotopic analysis, and the assignment of reference values of isotope ratios in RMs is a complex process. In this study, we established new isotopic reference values and its uncertainties for the Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope ratios in 18 commonly used pure materials and rock RMs, and for Hf and O isotope...

Reference materials (RMs) are the foundation in isotopic analysis, and the assignment of reference values of isotope ratios in RMs is a complex process. In this study, we established new isotopic reference values and its uncertainties for the Sr, Nd, Hf and Pb isotope ratios in 18 commonly used pure materials and rock RMs, and for Hf and O isotope...

The concentrations of Cu and Ag, both insoluble chalcophile elements, can be used to place tight constraints on the proportion of basalts in the upper continental crust (UCC) through time via analyses of fine-grained terrigenous sedimentary rocks. Copper and Ag concentrations in magmas are largely controlled by sulfide dissolution during melting an...

This study presents high precision Zn stable isotope analyses for lower crustal rocks (9 granulites from Archean terrains and 30 lower crustal xenoliths) from the north margin of the North China Craton (NCC) to understand the behavior of Zn isotopes during deep crustal processes and the Zn isotopic composition of the lower continental crust (LCC)....

MC-ICP-MS has become one of the most powerful analytical methods for Si isotopes in bulk liquid and solid samples in the past decade. Laser ablation provides direct sampling of solid samples, avoiding laborious chemical digestion procedures. As for powder bulk samples, the preparation of stable and homogeneous targets prior to measurements, and str...

The amalgamation of the North China Craton along the Trans-North China Orogen at ∼1.85 Ga has been widely discussed, but its thermal evolution after amalgamation is relatively poorly constrained. This study presents U-Pb ages, trace element compositions, and Hf isotopes of rutile xenocrysts carried by the Yangyuan Cenozoic carbonatites, revealing a...

Early Cretaceous lamprophyre dykes occur widely in the Jiaodong Peninsula, eastern North China Craton (NCC). These mantle-derived magmatic products allow us to elucidate subduction-related mantle metasomatic events that modified the sub-continental lithospheric mantle of the NCC. The Jiaodong Peninsula lamprophyres display zircon UPb ages of 130 ±...

The isotope dilution (ID) method, owing to its high precision, is extensively used for the determination of element mass fractions in a wide range of natural samples. One of the prerequisites of the ID method is knowledge of the isotopic composition of an enriched spike, which is often challenging to accurately determine. In this study, we employ a...

Desilicification elevates extraction of Re and platinum‐group elements (PGEs) from many geological reference materials (RMs), but the extent to which it affects less chalcophile elements has been investigated rarely. To further evaluate the effect of desilicification, mass fractions of elements with variable chalcophile affinities (In, Cd, Cu, Ag,...

Presently, laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) is the main micro-analysis technique for isotopic ratios. It provides high precision and spatially resolved isotopic information in solid samples for earth science research. Data reduction of LA-MC-ICP-MS is inherently challenging owing to the seve...

The Pb isotopic compositions of granulite xenoliths are crucial to constrain the formation and evolution of the lower continental crust (LCC) and are potentially the key to resolve the first Pb paradox of the Earth. However, it remains unclear how host magma infiltration affects the Pb isotopic compositions of LCC xenoliths and how different this e...

This paper proposes firstly using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) for direct multi-element analysis of wine samples without any pretreatment process. As a micro-sample consumption system, this method not only avoids the risk of clogging by carbon deposits but also greatly reduces the matrix effects based on th...

Accurate elemental analysis of alloy steels is a prerequisite for providing high-quality product assurance. This study investigates the quantification capabilities of three laser systems: 257-nm femtosecond (300 fs), 213-nm Nd:YAG (3 ns), and 193-nm ArF* excimer (15 ns) lasers coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the determ...

Resolving the geochemical discrepancies between the bulk continental crust and its building blocks, basaltic arc magmas, can provide insights into the processes by which the continental crust is formed. One of the discrepancies is that the bulk continental crust is depleted in Cu and has a lower Cu/Ag ratio (∼500) than basaltic arc magmas (∼3500)....

A new analytical method for the accurate and precise determination of stable zirconium isotope ratios in geological materials by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) is presented. Isobaric interferences from Mo were largely eliminated during filament heating and further reduced by the off-line Mo interference correction. This methodology all...

A comparative evaluation was carried out to determine the trace metallic constituents in nuclear-grade BeO by D.C. arc carrier distillation and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. D.C. arc carrier distillation is accomplished by physical separation of the major matrix to avoid interference, while ICP-AES employs the solu- tion...

Oxide interference correction plays a vital role in the accurate determination of trace element compositions of geological samples by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In this study, we found that the oxide production is mainly controlled by the gas flow of the ICP-MS and a constant oxide correction factor (OCF) can be measured...