The present master dissertation is a continuation of a research study developed by Leite (2006) aiming at the multielemental analysis of rock samples (basalts, obsidians and shale) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), in combination with laser ablation (LA) and using borate glass as analytical targets. As in the former work, the experiments were performed with a LSX-100 (CETAC) system coupled to an Elan 6000 ICPMS (PerkinElmer-Sciex). Pure gases (Ar, He) and mixtures (Ar-He, Ar-N2) were tested as carrier gas for transporting the aerosol from the ablation cell to the plasma. Different operational parameters of the laser, such as energy, focus, scanning speed and laser frequency were also studied. The new and optimized analytical conditions were tested with the calibration standards prepared by Leite (2006), and limits of detection (LOD), accuracies and precisions (RSD) were estimated. For 40 elements (Na, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta, Th, U), the LODs were in the range of 0,004 mg kg-1 (Tb) and 850 mg kg-1 (Si). Accuracies, estimated from the analysis of certified reference materials (USGS BIR-1, BHVO-2, SCo-1), were better 10% for Sc, V, Co, Ni, Zn, Rb, Y, Ba, La, Pr, Nd, Tb, Lu, and Th, and between 10 to 20% for Na, Al, Si, P, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Ga, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ce, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Er, Yb, Lu, Hf, and U. Analytical precisions, calculated from the residual standard deviations of calibration curves were typically 6%, and at most 10% for 30 elements (Na, Al, Si, P, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn, Ga, Sr, Y, Zr, Sb, La, Ce, Pr, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta). New targets were prepared from two certified reference materials: (USGS BCR-2 (basalt) and USGS SGR-1 (shale). These new calibration standards were validated against those prepared by Leite (2006) and also by an independent technique. Coefficients of determination (R2) for 24 elements (Na, Mg, Al, K, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Nb, Ce, Nd, Eu, Ho, Yb, Lu, Ta, Pb, U) were better than 0.98, and for further 16 elements better than 0.95 (Si, P, Ca, Zn, Zr, Ba, La, Pr, Sm, Gd, Tb, Dy, Er, Tm, Hf, Th). The method was then used for the multielement characterization of marine shale samples, which are of great geological interest in petroleum research, and preliminary results are presented and discussed.