Search results for "ISOTOPE"
showing 10 items of 2232 documents
C4 plant isotopic composition (delta13C) evidence for urban CO2 pollution in the city of Cotonou, Benin (West Africa).
2006
9 pages; International audience; The carbon isotopic composition (delta13C) of plants can reveal the isotopic carbon content of the atmosphere in which they develop. The delta13C values of air and plants depend on the amount of atmospheric fossil fuel CO2, which is chiefly emitted in urban areas. A new indicator of CO2 pollution is tested using the delta13C variation in a C4 grass: Eleusine indica. A range of about 4 per thousand delta units was observed at different sites in Cotonou, the largest city in the Republic of Benin. The highest delta13C values, from -12 per thousand to -14 per thousand, were found in low traffic zones; low delta13C values, from -14 per thousand to -16 per thousan…
THE EVALUATION OF STABLE ISOTOPIC RATIOS 13C AND 15N IN HUMIC ACIDS ALONG A FEN PEAT PROFILE
2019
Mires are known as consistent environmental archives, but humic acids are the fraction of peat that is most recalcitrant and refractory to organic matter degradation, thus data on environmental changes during mire development can be recorded into them. This work was focused on the studies of stable isotopic ratios delta carbon-13 and delta nitrogen-15, and their distribution in humic acids within fen peat layers of different depths and peat composition. The variations in delta carbon-13 reflect isotopic variations in peat-forming plants over time and can be considered as a function of photosynthetic pathway that is being used to fix carbon dioxide. At the same time, variations in delta nitr…
Stable isotope profiles of nitrogen gas indicate denitrification in oxygen-stratified humic lakes
2011
Mid-summer N(2) profiles were analyzed from nine oxygen-stratified, humic-acid-rich lakes using a continuous flow isotope ratio mass spectrometer and a Gasbench II device. Sample preparation steps were performed under water to avoid air contamination. The instrument precision for the δ(15)N measurement was high (0.03‰), but for the whole sampling and analysis procedure the mean deviation between replicate samples was 0.13‰ for the δ(15)N measurements and 5.5% for the N(2) gas concentration analysis. The results show that the Gasbench peripheral was suitable for measurement of the (15)N natural abundance of dissolved nitrogen gas, with denitrification indicated by the oversaturation and slig…
Influence of15N enrichment on the net isotopic fractionation factor during the reduction of nitrate to nitrous oxide in soil
2007
5 pages; International audience; Nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas, is mainly emitted from soils during the denitrification process. Nitrogen stable-isotope investigations can help to characterise the N(2)O source and N(2)O production mechanisms. The stable-isotope approach is increasingly used with (15)N natural abundance or relatively low (15)N enrichment levels and requires a good knowledge of the isotopic fractionation effect inherent to this biological mechanism. This paper reports the measurement of the net and instantaneous isotopic fractionation factor (alpha(s/p) (i)) during the denitrification of NO(3) (-) to N(2)O over a range of (15)N substrate enrichments (0.37 to 1.00 atom% (15)…
Insights into the effect of soil pH on N(2)O and N(2) emissions and denitrifier community size and activity.
2010
ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to investigate how changes in soil pH affect the N 2 O and N 2 emissions, denitrification activity, and size of a denitrifier community. We established a field experiment, situated in a grassland area, which consisted of three treatments which were repeatedly amended with a KOH solution (alkaline soil), an H 2 SO 4 solution (acidic soil), or water (natural pH soil) over 10 months. At the site, we determined field N 2 O and N 2 emissions using the 15 N gas flux method and collected soil samples for the measurement of potential denitrification activity and quantification of the size of the denitrifying community by quantitative PCR of the narG , napA ,…
On the generation and degradation of emerged coral reef terrace sequences: First cosmogenic 36Cl analysis at Cape Laundi, Sumba Island (Indonesia)
2021
(IF 4.45: Q1); International audience; The emerged coral reef terrace sequence at Cape Laundi, on the north coast of Sumba Island (Indonesia), with at least 18 successive strandlines, remains poorly dated in spite of numerous previous data. The age discrepancies within these coral reef terraces (CRTs) were previously explained by their polycyclic nature, triggered by marine erosion and reoccupation of old coral colonies by new ones. This study aims at highlighting these processes, as well as the continental denudation that participates in the partial stripping of the thin superficial coral reef layer overlying the pre-existing surface, exhuming older coral colonies. For this purpose, we use…
Determination of acrylamide in coffee and chocolate by pressurised fluid extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
2007
A selective and sensitive procedure has been developed and validated for the determination of acrylamide in difficult matrices, such as coffee and chocolate. The proposed method includes pressurised fluid extraction (PFE) with acetonitrile, florisil clean-up purification inside the PFE extraction cell and detection by liquid chromatography (LC) coupled to atmospheric pressure ionisation in positive mode tandem mass spectrometry (APCI-MS-MS). Comparison of ionisation sources (atmospheric pressure chemical ionisation (APCI), atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI) and the combined APCI/APPI) and clean-up procedures were carried out to improve the analytical signal. The main parameters aff…
Cr(III)/Cr(VI) speciation in aerosol particles by extractive separation and thermal ionization isotope dilution mass spectrometry
1997
An isotope dilution mass spectrometric (IDMS) method, using the formation of positive thermal ions, was developed for Cr(III) and Cr(VI) speciation in aerosol particles. Cr(III) and Cr(VI) spike species, enriched in 53Cr, were applied for the isotope dilution step. After leaching of filter collected aerosol samples by an alkaline solution at pH 13, species separation was carried out by extraction with a liquid anion exchanger in methyl isobutyl ketone. Cr(VI) in the organic phase was re-extracted into an ammoniacal solution and chromium was then isolated from both fractions of species by electrodeposition. Detection limits of 30 pg/m3 for Cr(III) and of 8 pg/m3 for Cr(VI) were achieved in a…
Determination of uranium in tap water by ICP-MS
2000
A fast and accurate procedure has been developed for the determination of uranium at microg L(-1) level in tap and mineral water. The method is based on the direct introduction of samples, without any chemical pre-treatment, into an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). Uranium was determined at the mass number 238 using Rh as internal standard. The method provides a limit of detection of 2 ng L(-1) and a good repeatability with relative standard deviation values (RSD) about 3% for five independent analyses of samples containing 73 microg L(-1) of uranium. Recovery percentage values found for the determination of uranium in spiked natural samples varied between 91% and 106%…
Determination of ruthenium in photographic emulsions - Development and comparison of different sample treatments and mass spectrometric methods
1999
Different sample treatment procedures were combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and negative thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (NTI-MS) for the determination of ruthenium traces in photographic emulsions. Dissolution of the samples in concentrated ammonia solution was used in connection with ICP-MS by external calibration, which has the advantage of a simple sample preparation technique but introduces high amounts of the silver matrix into the mass spectrometer. On the other hand, isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) with an enriched 99Ru spike solution was applied for ICP-MS and NTI-MS measurements, respectively, in connection with a significant reduc…