Applicability of La-Ce systematics to planetary samples

Abstract

Cesium isotopic compositions in several terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials were determined in order to investigate the applicability of using Ce as an isotropic tracer to geological processes. A tenuous anticorrelation was observed between (epsilon)Ce and (epsilon)Nd for terrestrial basalts and granites, indicating that with some improvement in analytical techniques the Ce isotopic composition may prove useful as tracer for geological processes. A very low (epsilon)Ce predicted from the Ce anomaly in the REE pattern of the Kholar L3 chondrite was not observed, indicating that the anomaly may be caused by terrestrial contamination or alteration.