Rare Earth Elements concentrations measured in bulk sediment samples collected during the IN2017-V01 voyage of the RV Investigator

Sediment cores were collected from the East Antarctic margin, aboard the Australian Marine National Facility R/V Investigator from January 14th to March 5th 2017 (IN2017_V01; (Armand et al., 2018). This marine geoscience expedition, named the “Sabrina Sea Floor Survey”, focused notably on studying the interactions of the Totten Glacier with the Southern Ocean through multiple glacial cycles. The cores were collected using a multi-corer (MC), sliced every centimetre, wrapped up in plastic bags, and stored in the fridge. Back at the home laboratory (IMAS, UTAS, Hobart, Australia), sediment samples were dried in an oven at 40°C. About 200 mg of dried and ground sediment were weighed into a clean Teflon vial and oxidized with a mixture of concentrated HNO3 and 30% H2O2 (1:1). Samples were then digested in open vials using an acid mixture comprising 10 mL HNO3, 4 mL HCl, and 2 mL HF, at 180°C until close to dryness. Digested residues were converted to nitric form before being oxidised with a mixture of 1 mL HNO3 and 1 mL HClO4 at 220°C until fully desiccated. Samples were finally re-dissolved in 4 mL 7.5 M HNO3. A 400 μL aliquot was removed from the 4 mL digest solution and diluted ~2500 times in 1% HNO3 for rare earth elements (REE) analysis by Sector Field Inductively Coupled Mass Spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany) at the Central Science Laboratory (UTAS, Hobart, Australia). Element quantification was performed via external calibration using multi-element calibration solutions (MISA-5, QCD Analysts, Spring Lake, NJ, USA). Samples were introduced to the instrument using an Aridius® II desolvating nebulizer (CETAC Technologies, USA). The DSN was tuned daily, and oxide formation for a range of test analytes (Ba, Ce, U etc) was always less than 0.05%. Isotopes 137Ba, 139La, 140Ce, 141Pr, 146Nd, 150Nd, 147Sm, 153Eu, 158Gd, 159Tb, 163Dy, 165Ho, 166Eu, 169Tm, 172Yb and 175Lu were monitored in low resolution mode. Raw intensities were blank and dilution corrected. ReferencesArmand, L. K., O’Brien, P. E., Armbrecht, L., Baker, H., Caburlotto, A., Connell, T., … Young, A. (2018). Interactions of the Totten Glacier with the Southern Ocean through multiple glacial cycles (IN2017-V01): Post-survey report. ANU Research Publications