Element characteristics of nephrite minerals were determined by glow discharge mass spectrometry （GD-MS） through surface adherence method. To solve the conductivity problem of non-conductive nephrite samples, high purity indium pin （〉99.9999%） was used as discharge host. During the preparation procedure, a small piece of nephrite sample was ground into powder （about 200 meshes）, and then the sample powder was coated on the surface of indium pin to form a rod sample. Typical elements of nephrite minerals were analyzed by GD-MS, and the relative standard deviations showed that the stability and reproducibility of this method were good. Meanwhile, four nephrite samples from two different deposits were further studied by this method. The GD-MS results of major elements and trace elements revealed that typical elements of the nephrite minerals from same deposit were similar, and those from different deposits exhibited significant difference. In addition, results of external-beam proton induced X-ray emission （PIXE） were consistent with the result of GD-MS determination. The present approach had been proven to be simple, efficient to perform the rapid screening and multi-element semi-quantitative analysis of nephrite samples.
Samples of the jade artifacts unearthed from the Liangzhu sites at Yuhang (Fanshan,Yaoshan, Huiguanshan and Tangshan) of Zhejiang province were described. The chemical composition, phase and jade structure of a hundred and more intact samples were analyzed by the non-destructive techniques of PIXE, XRD and laser Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that the minerals of the jade artifacts mostly belonged to tremolite and tremolite-actinolite. Relationship of the civilization development in the Neolithic age and the application of tremolite type mineral in jade artifacts was discussed. The contents of rare and trace elements in tremolite jade artfacts and in mineral samples were measured for the first time. The possible mineral sources of these tremolite type jade artifacts were discussed.
GAN FuXi1,3, CAO JingYan2, CHENG HuanSheng3, Gu DongHong1, RUI GuoYao2, FANG XiangMing2, DONG JunQing1 & ZHAO HongXia1 1Scientific Archeology Center, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China
