Investigation of a fusion technique for the determination of total sulfur in geological samples by ion chromatography

The authors have encountered the need for a rapid, accurate, precise, and sensitive method for measuring total sulfur in large numbers of geological samples. Numerous environmental studies of sulfur deposition due to sulfur dioxide emission from combustion and industry are currently under way. Several techniques for measuring total sulfur in soils and other silicate materials have been published including neutron activation analysis, thermal neutron capture prompt ..gamma..-ray spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, isotope dilution mass spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence, turbidimetry, ion chromatography (IC), iodimetric titration, and fluorometry. However, none of these methods is completely satisfactory for routine analysis of large numbers of samples. Many have levels of detection that are inadequate for measuring low levels of total sulfur (