Articles | Volume 38, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-123-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-38-123-2026
Research article
 | 
18 Mar 2026
Research article |  | 18 Mar 2026

High-spatial-resolution oxygen isotopic analysis to distinguish natural from synthetic corundum

Elena S. Sorokina, Axel K. Schmitt, Tobias Häger, and Jens Hopp

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Cited articles

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Filina, M. I., Sorokina, E. S., Botcharnikov, R., Karampelas, S., Rassomakhin, M. A., Kononkova, N. N., Nikolaev, A. G., Berndt, J., and Hofmeister, W.: Corundum Anorthosites-Kyshtymites from the South Urals, Russia: A Combined Mineralogical, Geochemical, and U-Pb Zircon Geochronological Study, Minerals, 9, 234, https://doi.org/10.3390/min9040234, 2019. 
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Short summary
Natural ruby and sapphire are of the rarest gemstones. To further enable their identification from synthetic analogues, this study explores secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) oxygen isotope analysis. SIMS δ18O analysis of hydrothermal corundum yielded values between -7.84 ± 0.13 ‰ and -14.54 ± 0.13 ‰ (Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water), which are atypical for natural corundum. SIMS δ18O analysis of corundum thus has strong potential to distinguish synthetic and natural corundum.
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