Multielement analysis of rocks and sediments by wet digestion and atomic absorption spectroscopy

The chemical analysis of rocks and sediments is performed for a variety of environmental and petrological purposes. For example, chemical data are used in the identification of various rock types; also, sediments contain significantly higher concentrations of many metals than are found in the underlying water; as such, they must be analyzed for pollutant contributions to the environment. The importance of these types of data is well established.