TC/EA-MS online determination of hydrogen isotope composition and water concentration in eclogitic garnet

A continuous flow method, by a combination of thermal conversion elemental analyzer (TC/EA) with isotope ratio mass spectrometry (MS), is presented for determination of both H isotope composition and H(2)O concentration of garnet from eclogite. Together with biotite NBS-30, the garnet was tested by preheating mineral grains at different temperatures. Preheating at 90 degrees C for 12 h was found to be capable of eliminating adsorption water on sample surface. This results in constant delta D values and total H(2)O contents for the garnet, with weighted means of -93 +/- 2 parts per thousand and 522 +/- 11 ppm (wt), respectively. The garnet that was preheated at 350 degrees C for 4 h also gave constant delta D values of -86 +/- 6 degrees and H(2)O contents of 281 +/- 13 ppm (wt). The latter result for the H(2)O contents agrees with the H(2)O contents 271 +/- 58 ppm (wt) measured by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for quantitative analysis of structural hydroxyl in the same garnet. Stepwise-heating TC/EA-MS analyses for the garnet show that the molecular H(2)O are depleted in D relative to the structural OH and has higher mobility than the structural OH. Therefore, the TC/EA-MS method can be used not only for quantitative determination of both H isotope composition and H(2)O concentration of hydrous and anhydrous minerals, but also for the concentration of structural hydroxyl after high-T dehydration.