Design, calibration and geological application of the first operational Australian laser ablation sulphur isotope microprobe

This contribution describes the setup and operating procedures of the first operational laser ablation microprobe for stable (sulphur) isotope analysis. In Australia as well as some brief geological applications. A significant feature on this laser ablation microprobe is automated gas purification and analysis; operator control is only required to locate and ablate sample targets. Preliminary results of studies on samples from the Broken Hill, Hellyer and active sea floor Pacmanus deposits indicate that laser ablation microprobe analysis can show subtle variations in δ34S not apparent using either conventional or SHRIMP analysis. -from Authors