U‐Pb Age Determination for Seven Standard Zircons using Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry Coupled with Frequency Quintupled Nd‐YAG (λ = 213 nm) Laser Ablation System: Comparison with LA‐ICP‐MS Zircon Analyses with a NIST Glass Reference Material

Abstract This paper evaluates the analytical precision, accuracy and long‐term reliability of the U‐Pb age data obtained using inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) with a frequency quintupled Nd‐YAG (λ = 213nm) laser ablation system. The U‐Pb age data for seven standard zircons of various ages, from 28 Ma to 2400 Ma (FCT, SL13, 91500, AS3, FC1, QGNG and PMA7) were obtained with an ablation pit size of 30 μm diameter. For 207 Pb/ 206 Pb ratio measurement, the mean isotopic ratio obtained on National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SRM610 over 4 months was 0.9105 ± 0.0014 ( n = 280, 95% confidence), which agrees well with the published value of 0.9096. The time‐profile of Pb/U ratios during single spot ablation showed no significant difference in shape from NIST SRM610 and 91500 zircon standards. These results encouraged the use of the glass standard as a calibration standard for the Pb/U ratio determination for zircons with shorter wavelength (λ = 213 nm) laser ablation. But 206 Pb/ 238 U and 207 Pb/ 235 U ages obtained by this method for seven zircon standards are systematically younger than the published U‐Pb ages obtained by both isotope dilution–thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID‐TIMS) and sensitive high‐resolution ion‐microprobe (SHRIMP). Greater discrepancies (3–4% younger ages) were found for the 206 Pb/ 238 U ages for SL13, AS3 and 91500 zircons. The origin of the differences could be heterogeneity in Pb/U ratio on SRM610 between the different disks, but a matrix effect accuracy either in the ICP ion source or in the ablation‐transport processes of the sample aerosols cannot be neglected. When the 206 Pb/ 238 U (= 0.2302) newly defined in the present study is used, the measured 206 Pb/ 238 U and 207 Pb/ 235 U ages for the seven zircon standards are in good agreement with those from ID‐TIMS and SHRIMP within ±2%. This suggests that SRM610 glass standard is suitable for ICP‐MS with laser ablation sampling (LA‐ICP‐MS) zircon analysis, but it is necessary to determine the correction factor for 206 Pb/ 238 U by measuring several zircon standards in individual laboratories.