Development and utilization of geochemical reference materials: — Reliability improvement in the analysis of geological materials —@@@―地質試料元素分析の信頼性向上のために―

Abstract

The Geological Survey of Japan has issued about 50 reference materials over the past 50 years. They have been used all over the world to improve the reliability in chemical analysis of geological materials. Geological samples of rocks, ores, minerals, soils, sediments, etc. generally contain various elements at high concentration levels. For accurate chemical analysis, it is necessary to use geochemical reference materials that contain major components at similar levels to the samples to be analyzed and predetermined concentrations of target elements. In this paper, scenarios to develop geochemical reference materials for Japan and the rest of the world are described. Methods for selecting and grinding sample materials, the determination of reference values, and data sharing are also reported.