PROVENANCE DISCRIMINATION OF FRESHWATER PEARLS BY LA-ICP-MS AND LINEAR DISCRIMINANT ANALYSIS (LDA)

This study investigates trace-element concentrations of 225 freshwater pearl samples using laser ablation- inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and subsequent statistical analysis using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The samples consisted of three types: non-bead-cultured pearls (NBC) grown in China, natural pearls found in the United States, and cultured pearls (bead and non-bead) grown in the United States. By capturing variations in trace-element concentrations simultaneously through multivariate analysis, these supplementary techniques assist in identifying freshwater pearl origins with a greater degree of confidence.