Preliminary Characterisation of New Reference Materials for Microanalysis: Chinese Geological Standard Glasses CGSG-1, CGSG-2, CGSG-4 and CGSG-5

Four silicate glasses were prepared by the fusion of about 1 kg powder each of a basalt, syenite, soil and andesite to provide reference materials of natural composition for microanalytical work. These glasses are referred to as 'Chinese Geological Standard Glasses' (CGSG) -1, -2, -4 and -5. Micro and bulk analyses indicated that the glasses are well homogenised with respect to major and trace elements. Some siderophile/chalcophile elements (e.g., Sn, Pt, Pb) may be heterogeneously distributed in CGSG-5. This paper provides the first analytical data for the CGSG reference glasses using a variety of analytical techniques (wet chemistry, XRF, EPMA, ICP-AES, ICP-MS, LA-ICP-MS) performed in nine laboratories. Most data agree within uncertainty limits of the analytical techniques used. Discrepancies in the data for some siderophile/chalcophile elements exist, mainly because of possible heterogeneities of these elements in the glasses and/or analytical problems. From the analytical data, preliminary reference and information values for fifty-five elements were calculated. The analytical uncertainties [2 relative standard error (RSE)] were estimated to be between about 1% and 20%.