Utilization of LIBS and LA-ICP-MS for Multi-elemental Analysis of Prehistoric Animal Teeth
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| Year of publication | 2009 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | Spatially resolved microchemical analysis of prehistorical animal tooth samples enables finds of interesting information, e.g., for paleozoology. The main parts of teeth (enamel, dentin and cementum) contain close to 40 trace elements in the 1000 ppm to 1000 ppb range. The chemical composition and/or ratio of selected elements (e.g., Sr/Ca, Ba/Sr) of calcified tissue samples are in relation to nutrition, health, seasonal fluctuation, and migration. Microspatial analysis and reconstruction of ethology of fossil animal tooth section is made possible using laser-ablation based analytical techniques, as Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectrometry (LIBS) or Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Here we report on utilization of LIBS analysis for mapping of selected trace elements (Sr, Ba, Fe), matrix elements (P, Ca) and Mg, Na content in transversal cross-sections of fossil bear canine tooth. Distribution of these elements was measured in different parts of tooth sample (root and crown) and the results obtained by LIBS were compared with outcomes measured by LA-ICP-MS. |
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