Applied Mineral Exploration
Discussion and research relevant to mineral
exploration. Hydrogen analyses of aqueous fluids by mass
spectrometry are wrong
Hydrogen (H2) is a by-product of the ionization of water in the mass spectrometer ionizer.
Analyses of hydrogen in fluid inclusion fluids should not be done by mass spectrometry. Laser raman analysis should be used instead.
Mass spectrometry is often used to analyse the chemical composition of fluids within fluid inclusions. Many studies have observed hydrogen based on these analyses. However the reported hydrogen contents are often surprisingly high. Some authors have realized that there is a problem and have proposed that the hydrogen has come from the chemical reduction of water during the analyses, although this is thermodynamically improbable. However there is an alternative explanation. The problem is due to an incomplete understanding of the ionization process in the ionizer of the mass spectrometer and that H2 (mass 2) is a spurious byproduct of the ionization of water. The discussions here explain the issues relating to hydrogen analyses in fluid inclusions using mass spectrometry.
A discussion of analyses reported in the literature and my own analyses which lead to recognition of the ionization problem.
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A mechanism explaining the generation of H2 (mass 2) from water in the ionizer
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A discussion and reply (Sept 2013) about wrong H2 data published in the literature
Hydrogen analyses reported from the Maw zone, Athabasca, Canada by Rabiei et. al. 2017.