mass-shifted input channels

aredakau

Hi all,

I have an issue with loading ICP-MS/MS (agilent 8900) files to iolite 4. The data include 2 channels for 86Sr one on mass and the second one on mass-shifted (i.e Sr86 -> 86, Sr86 -> 102). However, these channels appeared in the input as Sr86 with no changes in Post-shift mass. Could you please help me to solve this issue?

Ahmad

Joe

Hi Ahmad,

The Agilent importer recognizes mass shifted channel headers, but will name them according to their original mass. This is because the most common scenario we have encountered so far is the one in which U-Pb data have been collected and U and Th are mass shifted. If we were to import the channels as, e.g. U254 instead of U238, this would cause problems for the U-Pb DRS which expects there to be a U238 input.

I wonder whether it makes sense to have an import option for the Agilent importer that allows you to specify whether you want the imported channels to have the original or shifted mass? That way people doing interesting things with their triple quads can import the channels with shifted masses and create custom data reduction schemes to process them.

All the best,

aredakau

Hi Joe,

Thank you for your replay.

I was aiming to test the sufficient of the reaction by monitoring the element on both on-mass and mass-shifted. The header of ICP files looks like this: Sr86 -> 102 showing both element on mass and mass-shifted separated by "->". If the data contain only the mass-shifted channel, iolite was able to read the it correctly (by showing the right numbers on the fields "Mass", "Post-shift mass" and "Pre-shift mass" (i.e. 86, 102 and 86, consequently) . However, if the data contain both channels (i.e. Sr86 -> 86, Sr86 -> 102), iolite did not read the Post-shift field (all fields assigned as 86), which makes crunching the data tricky as channels were labelled similarly.

I was wondering if there is a way to change the label manually? or is it possible to modify the DRS to read the header correctly?

Thanks for you assistance.

Kind Regards,
Ahmad

Bence

Hi Ahmad,

In the short term, it might be quickest to write your own Python importer, and just set the channel names explicitly. That way, you can name the channels anything you want, and have full control.

Joe and I will put our heads together about what to do when there is both a mass shifted channel and an un-shifted channel and how to name them without conflicts.

Best regards,
Bence