CHEN Li-rong1, 2, GONG Ying-li3, TIAN Shi-hong1, 2, 4*, LIANG Zheng-wei1, 2, ZHU Chun-hui5

(1. State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Resources and Environment, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China;
2. School of Earth Sciences, East China University of Technology, Nanchang 330013, China;
3. Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
4. SinoProbe Laboratory, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beijing 100094, China;
5. Guizhou Tongwei Analytical Technology Co., Ltd., Guiyang 550025, China)

Abstract: The study on potassium isotopes (41K/39K, usually expressed as δ41K) can be tracked back to the 1930s. However, due to the limitation of the low analytical precision at that time, no obvious breakthrough had been made in the study of potassium isotopes for a long time. With the rapid development of mass spectrometry analytical technology during the early 21st century, especially after the application of collision reaction cell technology into the multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS), the analytical precision of potassium isotopes was greatly improved (up to 0.06‰). Thus, the potassium isotope study is once again widely concerned by researchers in the field of geology. In this paper, we have systematically introduced the latest research achievements in fields of the analytical techniques, main reservoirs compositions and fractionation mechanism of potassium isotopes, and have elaborated in detail the latest progresses of potassium isotopes in studies of continental weathering intensity, petrogenesis, hydrothermal fluid and mineralization processes, and planetary origin. In general, although the application of potassium isotopes in the study of high temperature geochemistry is still in its infancy, it can be predicted that potassium isotopes will have more extensive applications in studying the paleo-environment, paleo-climate, diagenetic and metallogenic processes as well as the crust-mantle material circulation in the future.

Keywords: potassium isotopes; geochemistry; isotope fractionation; geological application; MC-ICP-MS

ACTA MINERALOGICA SINICA Vol. 43, No. 3, 2023, Page 295