Accurate and Sensitive Determination of Concentrations of Twenty-Two Elements in the Surface Water from West Antarctica

The requirements for better understanding of marine metal geochemistry continually emphasize precise and accurate quantitative determination of elements in surface seawater matrix. While precise results are attained with most of the modern analytical instruments, the accuracy of quantitative results falls short unless the interferences caused from the high salinity of seawater are eliminated. In this study, the mass fractions of 22 elements in the surface seawater samples collected from the coastal part of west Antarctica were determined using an accurate and reliable quantification method. In this method, magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)₂) precipitation was performed using N,N-diethylethanamine (C₆H₁₅N) prior to determination by inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry system and the utility of method was studied by spiking experiments into seawater matrices. Percent recovery values of selected elements were varied between 86.0 and 129.9% with satisfactory precision levels (RSD ≤ 17.7%). Following the acceptable recovery results, the analytical method was used to determine the quantities of elements in surface seawater samples. In the samples, significant levels of aluminum, vanadium, and molybdenum were detected while the levels of heavy metals including As, Sb, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Bi were below the detection limit. The results suggest the absence of a continual contamination process in the coastal region of Horseshoe and Faure Islands. Concerning the limited data available in literature, the results may contribute for reliable evaluation of the distribution levels of selected elements in Antarctica.