USGS-GD-Scientific Capabilities - STABLE ISOTOPES CARBON 13 Technique

STABLE ISOTOPES

CARBON 13

Technique
 

 

Chemaynetics solid state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)

  • Element:
Carbon delta13C (PDB)
  • Material:
    • Carbonate minerals (C and O)
    • Organic Compounds (total carbon)
    • Gases (CO2, CO, CH4, other hydrocarbons)
    • Aqueous carbonates (bicarbonate, CO3, dissolved CO2) - DIC
    • Dissolved organic carbon - DOC
    • Chromatographic Organic Fractions (compound specific)
    • Synthetic carbon bearing compounds (cyanide, cocaine, explosives, drugs, paper, etc.)
    • Biologic (tissue, plants and animal compounds, etc.)
    • Modern/ancient organics (organics in rocks, fussinite (charcoal), petroleum, coal/peat/grass)
    • Diamond, graphite
    • Volcanic gas carbon species
    • Automated total carbon and nitrogen (same sample)
    • CO2 and CH4 in clathrates and in ice core bubbles
  • Form:
extract and process to carbon dioxide, analyze as CO2 on mass spectrometer
  • Precision:
Typically ± 0.04 to 0.1 per mil
  • Applications:
Temperature, kinetics, sources and tracers
  • Instruments:
Finnigan 252, Finnigan 251, VG Optima
  • Specialty Peripherals:
Kiel devise, Multiprep, VG multi-element analyzer, extraction lines, CO2 and Nd: YAG laser microbeam sampling, auto trapping/gas separation
  • Automation:
Yes - Kiel (46/day), Optima ME (approximately 100/day), Trapping box cleaning (24/day), Multiprep (60/day)
  • Sample Size:
    • minimum: 1 nanomole as CO2 extracted from sample
    • typical: 20-60 micromole as CO2
 

 | Capabilities |
| Geochronology, Geochemistry, and Tracer Studies  |
| Geochemistry, and Tracer Studies  |

 

URL http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/capabilities/gronemtrac/geochem/stablei/carbon13/tech.html