@article{oai:repo.qst.go.jp:00045224,
 author = {Zheng, Jian and Yamada, Masatoshi and 鄭 建 and 山田 正俊},
 issue = {4},
 journal = {Journal of Oceanography},
 month = {Aug},
 note = {241Am is a useful tracer in understanding biogeochemical processes in the marine environment. 241Am also poses a potential radiation threat against human health due to the continuous increase of its concentration in the global environment. We report a rapid analytical method for 241Am in marine sediments using isotope dilution sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) combined with a high-efficiency sample introduction system (APEX-Q). A selective CaF2 co-precipitation procedure followed by TRU extraction chromatography was employed to effectively remove the major sediment matrix and to pre-concentrate 241Am. We achieved an extremely low detection limit of 0.32 fg/g or 0.041 mBq/g (for 1 gram sediment), which is better than that of alpha spectrometry, and it allowed the accurate determination of 241Am in low-level marine sediment samples. The accuracy and precision of the developed analytical method was evaluated using a laboratory prepared Am isotope standard solution and Ocean Sediment reference material (IAEA-368) and the results were satisfactory. For sediment samples, overall, chemical recoveries varied from 60 - 90 %. The developed method was applied to the study of 241Am depth distribution in Sagami Bay, Japan, in which we observed different depth profiles between 241Am activity and 239+240Pu activity.},
 pages = {541--550},
 title = {Isotope dilution sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry combined with extraction chromatography for rapid determination of 241Am in marine sediment samples: a case study in Sagami bay, Japan},
 volume = {64},
 year = {2008}
}