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80s-tastic plasma lamp (Wikipedia) Today I was mostly preparing lake sediment core samples for ICP. ICP stands for Inductively Coupled Plasma, and comes either in the MS (mass spectrometry) or OES (optical emission spectrometry) variety. Both are methods for measuring the different elements present in a sample. The ICP bit is a 'torch' containing a gas, typically argon, that is ionised by heating it via electromagnetic induction (remember those weird glowing globe plasma lamps?). Still confused? This means there is a coil wrapped around the torch, which produces a very strong electromagnetic field when turned on. The argon gas is ''lit' by an electrostatic spark, and the gas becomes ionised. The sample (dissolved in liquid) is sprayed into the argon flame, and also becomes ionised. As different components in the sample become ionised they gave off a characteristic energy. The MS and OES parts is the bit that detects the elements present. MS does this by measur...