Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) is a mature, but still developing, micro-analytical technique that has allowed significant research advances in many areas of the Earth sciences. The method produces quantitative elemental and isotopic analyses on the micrometer scale of most solid, and some liquid, materials across most of the periodic table. A key strength of the method is that it can detect changing conditions or processes over time by analysis of growth zones or domains in minerals and other objects. Because both inorganic and organic materials can be analyzed, abiotic and biotic processes, and their interactions, can be studied. This issue of Elements highlights applications of LA-ICP-MS across the broad range of disciplines of interest to the Earth, environmental, and biological sciences that now rely on the technique and their interdisciplinary nature.
