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Gas having stable isotopes is monitored continuously by using a system that sends a modulated laser beam to the gas and collects and transmits the light not absorbed by the gas to a detector. Gas from geological storage, or from the atmosphere can be monitored continuously without collecting samples and transporting them to a lab.
Analyses of primitive meteorites and cometary samples have shown that the solar nebula must have experienced a phase of large-scale outward transport of small refractory grains as well as homogenization of initially spatially heterogeneous short-lived isotopes. The stable oxygen isotopes, however, were able to remain spatially heterogeneous at the {approx}6% level. One promising mechanism for achieving these disparate goals is the mixing and transport associated with a marginally gravitationally unstable (MGU) disk, a likely cause of FU Orionis events in young low-mass stars. Several new sets of MGU models are presented that explore mixing and transport in disks with varied masses (0.016 to 0.13 M{sub Sun }) around stars with varied masses (0.1 to 1 M{sub Sun }) and varied initial Q stability minima (1.8 to 3.1). The results show that MGU disks are able to rapidly (within {approx}10{sup 4} yr) achieve large-scale transport and homogenization of initially spatially heterogeneous distributions of disk grains or gas. In addition, the models show that while single-shot injection heterogeneity is reduced to a relatively low level ({approx}1%), as required for early solar system chronometry, continuous injection of the sort associated with the generation of stable oxygen isotope fractionations by UV photolysis leads to a sustained, relatively high level ({approx}10%) of heterogeneity, in agreement with the oxygen isotope data. These models support the suggestion that the protosun may have experienced at least one FU Orionis-like outburst, which produced several of the signatures left behind in primitive chondrites and comets.
Stable isotopes in water (e.g., δ2H and δ18O) are important indicators of hydrological and ecological patterns and processes. Tap water can reflect integrated features of regional hydrological processes and human activities. China is a large country with significant meteorological and geographical variations. This report presents the first national-scale survey of Stable Isotopes in Tap Water (SITW) across China. 780 tap water samples have been collected from 95 cities across China from December 2014 to December 2015. (1) Results yielded the Tap Water Line in China is δ2H = 7.72 δ18O + 6.57 (r2 = 0.95). (2) SITW spatial distribution presents typical "continental effect". (3) SITW seasonal variations indicate clearly regional patterns but no trends at the national level. (4) SITW can be correlated in some parts with geographic or meteorological factors. This work presents the first SITW map in China, which sets up a benchmark for further stable isotopes research across China. This is a critical step toward monitoring and investigating water resources in climate-sensitive regions, so the human-hydrological system. These findings could be used in the future to establish water management strategies at a national or regional scale. Title: Divergence of stable isotopes in tap water across China Authors: Zhao, SH; Hu, HC; Tian, FQ; Tie, Q; Wang, LX; Liu, YL; Shi, CX Source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 7 10.1038/srep43653 MAR 2 2017
Highlights: • Quantification of bacterial methane oxidation was investigated by isotope analysis. • Independent approaches (mass balancing, stoichiometry, and stable isotope analysis). • Robust statistical validation of calculated biodegradation in experimental reactor. • Thermal imaging to locate bacterial methane oxidation along with isotope analysis. - Abstract: Biological methane oxidation may be regarded as a method of aftercare treatment for landfills to reduce climate relevant methane emissions. It is of social and economic interest to estimate the behavior of bacterial methane oxidation in aged landfill covers due to an adequate long-term treatment of the gas emissions. Different approaches assessing methane oxidation in laboratory column studies have been investigated by other authors recently. However, this work represents the first study in which three independent approaches, ((i) mass balance, (ii) stable isotope analysis, and (iii) stoichiometric balance of product (CO{sub 2}) and reactant (CH{sub 4}) by CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}-ratio) have been compared for the estimation of the biodegradation by a robust statistical validation on a rectangular, wide soil column. Additionally, an evaluation by thermal imaging as a potential technique for the localization of the active zone of bacterial methane oxidation has been addressed in connection with stable isotope analysis and CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}-ratios. Although landfills can be considered as open systems the results for stable isotope analysis based on a closed system correlated better with the mass balance than calculations based on an open system. CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}-ratios were also in good agreement with mass balance. In general, highest values for biodegradation were determined from mass balance, followed by CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}-ratio, and stable isotope analysis. The investigated topsoil proved to be very suitable as a potential cover layer by removing up to 99% of methane for CH{sub 4} loads of 35–65 g m{sup –2} d{sup –1} that are typical in the aftercare phase of landfills. Finally, data from stable isotope analysis and the CO{sub 2}/CH{sub 4}-ratios were used to trace microbial activity within the reactor system. It was shown that methane consumption and temperature increase, as a cause of high microbial activity, correlated very well.
Stable isotope abundances vary because of size differences. The chlorine stable isotope system was one of the first described theoretically, but had a slow, disappointment strewn development, relative to other elements. Method improvement gave only small, but significant, differences in compositions of geological materials. Eventually, brines and groundwater chlorides gave larger differences. Physical processes like diffusion and adsorption, probably are the main controls of groundwater compositions. Recent work on anthropogenic groundwater contaminants shows variations resulting from manufacturing processes; implying possibilities of tracing sources.
Water vapor is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Changes in its concentration and distribution are controlled by the hydrologic cycle. Because of its capacity to absorb and emit long wave radiation, release latent heat during condensation in storms and reflect short wave radiation when clouds form it has a major impact on Global climate change. The stable isotope ratios of water are H20 H2l6O and H0 H2l6O. These ratios change whenever water undergoes a phase change. They also change in both rain and water vapor whenever an air parcel is exposed to rain. In addition the relative changes in the two ratios differ as a &nction of the relative humidity. In short, the stable isotope ratios in water vapor in the atmosphere contain an integrated history of the processes affecting the concentration and distribution of water vapor in the atmosphere. Therefore the measurement and interpretation of changes in these stable isotope ratios are a powerful tool matched by no other method in tracing the transport history of water in the atmosphere. Our initial studies under this grant focused on the changes of the stable isotope ratios of precipitation and water vapor in tropical cyclones. The changes in time and space were found to be very large and to trace the transport of water in the storms reflecting changes in basic structural features. Because the stable isotope ratios of rains from tropical cyclones are so low flooding associated with land falling tropical cyclones introduces a negative isotopic spike into the coastal surface waters. In addition the stable isotope ratios of water vapor in the vicinity of tropical cyclones is anomalously low. This suggests that carbonate shelled organisms such as ostracoda living in coastal waters have the potential to record the isotopic spike and thereby provide a long term record of tropical storm activity in sediment cores containing fossil shells. Likewise, tree rings in coastal environments offer a similar potential. We have analyzed the oxygen isotopic composition of ostrcoda shells formed in the floodwaters of Tropical Storm Allison (2001) and discovered the negative isotopic 1 16 spike. Because we had learned that storm activity has a major impact on the stable isotope ratios of water vapor in the tropics and sub-tropics we decided to analyze the isotopic compositions of water vapor in different locations in the tropics. We did this in Puerto Escondido, Mexico in July 1998, near Kwajalein Island in the Pacific in 1999 as part of a TRMM summer field program and in 2001 in Key West, Florida as part of the CAMEX 4 summer field program. Our isotopic studies along with our earlier tropical cyclone studies showed that the low isotopic ratios in water vapor induced by exposure to rains the storms persisted for 48 hours often far away from the original storm site. We also noted that positive isotopic spikes were introduced into atmospheric water vapor if winds were high and extensive sea spray was present. These findings have a significant impact on the interpretation of the stable isotope studies of tropical ice cores found in the high mountain regions of the tropics. The assumption made in interpreting the ice core record is that the source water vapor evaporated from the sea surface is in near isotopic equilibrium with the seawater and undergoes a decrease during its transport that reflects the change in temperature from the sea surface to the site of the ice core. Because an additional isotopic depletion occurs at the sea surface source area that depends on the intensity, duration and size of the tropical rain system the isotopic variations found in the ice cores must take into account changes in past storm activity in the tropics. These systems must be an important source of water vapor to the ice cores because they charge the troposphere with water vapor to a far greater vertical height than evaporation in quiescent regions. Finally, an interest in increased heat transfer in thnterior of tropical cyclones resulting from greater amounts of sea spray is a topic of considerable interest to the research community. Increases in sea spray may be related to rapid changes in the intensity of hurricanes, a feature of hurricanes that currently is very poorly forecast. Project CBLAST of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA is an active program that uses P3 research aircraft to evaluate this problem. An instrument has been designed and built at the University of Houston that will be placed on the P3 research aircraft during the 2004 hurricane season. It continuously measures the salt content of rain in hurricanes. Changes in the salt content of the rains should reflect the abundance of sea spray at the sea surface. In this way maps of sea spray intensity in hurricanes may be forthcoming. This should help computer modelers who simulate hurricanes to better understand the potential of changes in sea spray to change the intensity of hurricanes. The cost of designing, building and installing this instrument was borne largely by funding from this NASA grant. A list of presentations at national meetings and publications that were as the result of funding from this NASA grant are found in the report.
When exposed to humidity in an oxidizing atmosphere hydrated uranium oxide grows as a secondary mineral on aged U 3 O 8 and may incorporate the oxygen stable isotope signature of the water vapor into the secondary uranium oxide, as well as hydrogen and oxygen stable isotopes into any mineral hydration water. Because geospatial variation in δ 2 H and δ 18 O values of atmospheric humidity and precipitation is well understood, the H and O stable isotope composition of mineral hydration waters can give information on the environment of mineral formation. We exposed powdered U 3 O 8 to humidity with known H and O stable isotope composition at constant 30%, 61% and 91% relative humidity. We sampled and analyzed the U 3 O 8 powders along with any secondary hydrated minerals that had formed on the particle surfaces at various intervals from 1 to 10 days throughout the 180-day humidity exposures. We present stable H and O isotope results of mineral hydration waters in uranium oxide materials analyzed by thermogravimetry-enabled isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (TGA-IRIS), which uses precise heating by thermogravimetric analyzer to liberate water vapor for subsequent online isotope analysis via a laser-based isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy instrument (Picarro L-2130i). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of humidity-exposed U 3 O 8 heated to 350 °C indicates that the U 3 O 8 had a measurable metaschoepite ((UO 3 )•2H 2 O) phase along with α-U 3 O 8 . After heating to 350 °C, the metaschoepite is eliminated but the α-U 3 O 8 is retained, meaning that the heating successfully extracted the water in the metaschoepite but did not disturb the crystalline structure of the U 3 O 8 . Analysis of the bulk oxygen isotope composition by fluorination of these samples before and after heating, indicates that the oxygen isotope value of the U 3 O 8 is also not affected by heating to 350 °C. Precision for δ 2 H and δ 18 O values of metaschoepite mineral hydration water stable isotope values yielded by the TGA-IRIS method on metaschoepite are 5.86‰ for δ 2 H, and 0.34‰ for δ 18 O. Hydrogen in the various water reservoirs is highly exchangeable and thus the δ 2 H values of these waters is not easily interpreted. However, oxygen in the separate water reservoirs is much less exchangeable, and thus δ 18 O values of the metaschoepite mineral hydration water is likely to reflect that of the water vapor the sample was exposed to. Once metaschoepite is formed on the surface of U 3 O 8 particles, the oxygen isotope signature of the mineral hydration water in metaschoepite does not respond to changes in exposure vapor isotopic composition, and thus appears to be fairly durable in this regard. Furthermore, these results suggest that it may be possible to discern information about the provenance and history of an oxidized U 3 O 8 sample from oxygen stable isotope measurements of metaschoepite mineral hydration water.
Since the 1960s the Department of Energy (DOE) Isotope Program, through the Isotope Development Group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been developing and supplying, among other things, enriched stable isotope targets for nuclear research around the world. This group also maintains and distributes the DOE inventory of enriched stable isotopes. Chemical and pyrochemical techniques are used to prepare enriched stable isotopes from this inventory in the desired chemical form. Metallurgical, ceramic, or vacuum processing methods are then used to prepare the isotopes in a wide range of physical forms from thin films, foils, and coatings to large fabricated shapes to meet the needs of experimenters. Significant characterization capabilities are also available to assist in the preparation and evaluation of these custom materials. This work is part of the DOE Isotope Program, which recently transferred to the Office of Nuclear Physics, DOE Office of Science, resulting in a stronger emphasis on enabling R&D. This presentation will focus on the custom preparation of enriched stable isotope targets and other research materials.
We provide daily stable isotope (2H & 18O) ratios in soil water and xylem (plant stem) water, as well as the sap flow (transpiration) and the soil's matric potential at a forested site near Gothic, Colorado, in the East River catchment. We measured the stable isotopic composition of the transpiration and the daily transpiration flux sum of three aspen and three engelmann spruce. In both forest stands, we installed a soil profile and measured the soil matric potential at 15, 30, and 60 cm depth as well as the stable isotopes of soil pore water at 5, 10, 30, 60, and 90 cm depths. All isotope measurements were done in situ via vapor probes connected to a cavity ring down spectrometer (Picarro L1240i).We further report the daily meteorological data observed at billy barr near our study site. We also provide for each tree the relative share of root water uptake derived from the isotope measurements via a Bayesian mixing model (MixSIAR).The daily data is provided as a time series in "Iso_MP_Sap_DataDaily_ESSDiveUpload.csv" and the units are provided in "dd.csv"; the location of the instrumented trees and soil profiles are given as latitude and longitude coordinates saved as CSV and KMZ files; and a file-level metadata (flmd.csv) file that lists each file contained in the dataset with associated metadata.The data was gathered to investigate the short-term changes of the water sources (i.e., variation of root water uptake from different soil depths) of the studied subalpine trees.Update 07/16/2025: The relative and absolute plant water uptake depths were grouped to ensure that the MixSIAR model was applied with endmembers that differed in their d2H value by at least 3 permill and at least 1 permill for d18O. Whenever the difference between observed d2H values for two or more probes at neighboring depths was less than 3 permill, we used the average value for the source water endmember. For days at which probes that were not next to each other measurements did not differ at least 3 permill, the average of all probes between these two depths was used as the water source endmember representing the depth range between these two probes.
Present and future climatic trends are expected to markedly alter water fluxes and stores in the hydrologic cycle. In addition, water demand continues to grow due to increased human use and a growing population. Sustainably managing water resources requires a thorough understanding of water storage and flow in natural, agricultural, and urban ecosystems. Measurements of stable isotopes of water (hydrogen and oxygen) in the water cycle (atmosphere, soils, plants, surface water, and groundwater) can provide information on the transport pathways, sourcing, dynamics, ages, and storage pools of water that is difficult to obtain with other techniques. However, the potential of these techniques for practical questions has not been fully exploited yet. Here, we outline the benefits and limitations of potential applications of stable isotope methods useful to water managers, farmers, and other stakeholders. We also describe several case studies demonstrating how stable isotopes of water can support water management decision-making. Finally, we propose a workflow that guides users through a sequence of decisions required to apply stable isotope methods to examples of water management issues. We call for ongoing dialogue and a stronger connection between water management stakeholders and water stable isotope practitioners to identify the most pressing issues and develop best-practice guidelines to apply these techniques.
Mercury (Hg) stable isotope is a useful tool to understand the transformation of atmospheric Hg. The observation on the enrichment of heavier isotopes in gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) relative to oxidized Hg{sup II} species in atmosphere cannot be convincingly explained by isotope fractionation of Hg redox processes. This review shows that the large Hg isotope mass dependent fractionation (MDF) in coal-fired boilers is one of the underlying reasons. The reported Hg isotope data of feed coals and their combustion products are first summarized to give a general overview of how Hg isotopes fractionate before Hg discharge from coal-fired boilers. Then, predictive MDF models are discussed to simulate δ{sup 202}Hg values of different Hg species in coal combustion flue gases. The discharged GEM is predicted to have the highest δ{sup 202}Hg followed by gaseous Hg{sup II} and particulate-bound Hg{sup II}, which is in consistent with the observed MDF pattern of atmospheric Hg species.
Mass spectrometric stable isotope dilution technique for analysis of rare earth element abundance
Floral, faunal and stable isotope evidence in a continuous sequence of latest Cretaceous and earliest Tertiary shallow water marine deposits in the Mangyshlak Peninsula, USSR suggest severe environmental changes at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (K/T) boundary. Time frame is provided by nanno, micro and macrofossils as well as by magnetic stratigraphy and an iridium spike. Oxygen isotopic analyses of the bulk sediments, composed of nanno and microplankton skeletal remains, show a sharp positive spike at the K/T boundary. This shift is primarily attributed to severe cooling possibly accompanied by increased salinities of the surface mixed layer. Floral and faunal extinctions were selective, affecting approximately 90 percent of the warm water calcareous phyto and zooplankton genera in the Tethyan-Paratethyan regions. These highly diverse taxa with many endemic representatives were at the peak of their evolutionary development. Geologic evidence indicates that the terminal Cretaceous temperature decline was coeval with widespread and intense volcanic activity which reached a peak at the close of the Mesozoic Era. Increased acidity temporarily prohibited calcite nucleation of the surface dwelling warm-water plankton. Superimposed upon decreased alkalinity, severe and rapid climatic changes caused the extinction of calcareous phyto and zooplankton.
Seeds of the castor plant Ricinus communis, also known as castor beans, are of forensic interest because they are the source of the poison ricin. We have tested whether stable isotope ratios of castor seeds and ricin prepared by various methods can be used as a forensic signature. We collected over 300 castor seed samples from locations around the world and measured the C, N, O, and H stable isotope ratios of the whole seeds, oil, and three types of ricin preparations. Our results demonstrate that N isotope ratios can be used to correlate ricin prepared by any of these methods to source seeds. Further, stable isotope ratios distinguished >99% of crude and purified ricin protein samples in pair-wise comparison tests. Stable isotope ratios therefore constitute a valuable forensic signature for ricin preparations.
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the US Department of Energy Nuclear Physics Program have built a high-resolution Electromagnetic Isotope Separator (EMIS) as a prototype for reestablishing a US based enrichment capability for stable isotopes. ORNL has over 60 years of experience providing enriched stable isotopes and related technical services to the international accelerator target community, as well as medical, research, industrial, national security, and other communities. ORNL is investigating the combined use of electromagnetic and gas centrifuge isotope separation technologies to provide research quantities (milligram to several kilograms) of enriched stable isotopes. In preparation for implementing a larger scale production facility, a 10 mA high-resolution EMIS prototype has been built and tested. Initial testing of the device has simultaneously collected greater than 98% enriched samples of all the molybdenum isotopes from natural abundance feedstock.
Abstract Stable isotope ratios of H ( δ 2 H ), O ( δ 18 O), and C ( δ 13 C) are linked to key biogeochemical processes of the water and carbon cycles; however, the degree to which isotope-associated processes are reflected in macroscale ecosystem flux observations remains unquantified. Here through formal information assessment, new measurements of δ 13 C of net ecosystem exchange ( NEE ) as well as δ 2 H and δ 18 O of latent heat ( LH ) fluxes across the United States National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) are used to determine conditions under which isotope measurements are informative of environmental exchanges. We find all three isotopic datasets individually contain comparable amounts of information about NEE and LH fluxes as wind speed observations. Such information from isotope measurements, however, is largely unique. Generally, δ 13 C provides more information about LH as aridity increases or mean annual precipitation decreases. δ 2 H provides more information about LH as temperatures or mean annual precipitation decreases, and also provides more information about NEE as temperatures decrease. Overall, we show that the stable isotope datasets collected by NEON contribute non-trivial amounts of new information about bulk environmental fluxes useful for interpreting biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes at landscape scales. However, the utility of this new information varies with environmental conditions at continental scales. This study provides an approach for quantifying the value adding non-traditional sensing approaches to environmental monitoring sites and the patterns identified here are expected to aid in modeling and data interpretation efforts focused on constraining carbon and water cycles’ mechanisms.
DNA-stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) links microorganisms to their in-situ function in diverse environmental samples. Combining DNA-SIP and metagenomics (metagenomic-SIP) allows us to link genomes from complex communities to their specific functions and improves the assembly and binning of these targeted genomes. However, empirical development of metagenomic-SIP methods is hindered by the complexity and cost of these studies. We developed a toolkit, ‘MetaSIPSim,’ to simulate sequencing read libraries for metagenomic-SIP experiments. MetaSIPSim is intended to generate datasets for method development and testing. To this end, we used MetaSIPSim generated data to demonstrate the advantages of metagenomic-SIP over a conventional shotgun metagenomic sequencing experiment. Through simulation we show that metagenomic-SIP improves the assembly and binning of isotopically labeled genomes relative to a conventional metagenomic approach. Improvements were dependent on experimental parameters and on sequencing depth. Community level G + C content impacted the assembly of labeled genomes and subsequent binning, where high community G + C generally reduced the benefits of metagenomic-SIP. Furthermore, when a high proportion of the community is isotopically labeled, the benefits of metagenomic-SIP decline. Finally, the choice of gradient fractions to sequence greatly influences method performance. Metagenomic-SIP is a valuable method for recovering isotopically labeled genomes from complex communities. We show that metagenomic-SIP performance depends on optimization of experimental parameters. MetaSIPSim allows for simulation of metagenomic-SIP datasets which facilitates the optimization and development of metagenomic-SIP experiments and analytical approaches for dealing with these data.