Analyses: Stable Isotope Laboratory

A rack with d18O water samples back filled with CO2 is ready for analysis and is placed into position on the equilibration block.

Analyses

Water, air, and organics.

Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

University researchers, commercial parties, & government agencies.

Basic Analyses

Analysis		Analysis Mode	Sample Volume	Precision (‰)	Cost Per	Analysis Time
C & O: carbon dioxide	δ¹³C δ¹⁸O	dual inlet	400 cc 1 Liter	±0.01 ±0.03	$30	4-6 wks
C: methane	δ¹³C	continuous flow	40 cc 1 Liter	±0.04	$120	4-6 wks
C: soil carbon dioxide	δ¹³C δ¹⁸O	continuous flow	1 ml**1 50 ml	±0.07 ±0.10	**2	Contact us
H: liquid water & ice	δD	dual inlet	2ml**2 15 ml	±0.5	$25	4-6 wks
O: liquid water & ice	δ¹⁸O	dual inlet	2 ml 15 ml	±0.07	$25	4-6 wks
C & O: carbonate	δ¹³C δ¹⁸O	dual inlet	5 mg 20 mg	±0.07 ±0.10	$25	4-6 wks
C: organics	δ¹³C	continuous flow	10-50mg Carbon	±0.30	$12
H: methane	δD	continuous flow	150 cc	±1.5	n/a	n/a

Sample Volume First line is amount needed for analyses; second line is the desired amount of sample to be submitted, to allow enough for replicate analiyses.

Precision is the average standard deviation (1-sigma) in per mille units.

Cost Per Analysis is an estimate for off-campus academic university research. Prices are higher for non-academic projects, including commercial parties and governmental agencies. Assistance with interpretation of data is available. We do not attempt to compete with commercial labs. Students please see note below.

Analysis time is an average turnaround time for a small number of samples (1-50). Actual time may be shorter or longer depending on machine performance, barring mechanical failures beyond our control.

Contact

Shipping

PLEASE DO NOT SEND SAMPLES BY STANDARD US POSTAL SERVICE!!

Choose a street delivery service such as FedEx, UPS, etc. We request that you email us with an electronic list (spread sheet) of sample ID's, so that we can avoid any possiblity of data entry typos on our end. If possible, espeically with large sample sets, we appreciate some organization of the samples in the shipping container, so we don't have to re-order them. :)

Send samples to:

Bruce H. Vaughn
INSTAAR Stable Isotope Laboratory
INSTAAR
1560 30th Street
Boulder, CO 80303

PH. 303-492-7985 office / 303-492-5495 lab

Billing

We will bill your university/party/agency after the work is completed.
Most universities pay with a purchase order or credit card.
We can pre-bill if requested.

Note to students

We strongly support student projects, both graduate and undergraduate.
If you have a limited number of samples, and an even more limited source of funding, we may be able to help.
Contact SIL for details.
Standard Gases

We also perform calibration of clean dry air cylinders typically filled at the Niwot clean air site by NOAA personnel. Calibrated tanks can be obtained from NOAA CMDL, analyzed for mixing ratios of a suite of greenhouse gases, including CO, CO2, N2O, and CH4. For more information, visit the NOAA CMDL standard-gases web site: If in doubt, please contact us.

Reference cylinders usuallly require analyses made over a period of weeks to verify the stability of the standard air before it can be released and ceritified for use. Turn around times can vary, depending on the performance of the cylinder. Tyically we make approximately 30 measurements over a period of 6 to 12 weeks. Actual time may be shorter or longer depending on machine and cylinder performance, barring any mechanical failures beyond our control. Please contact us for current estimates.

In Development

We are currently developing a system to analyse atmospheric water vapor for both hydrogen and oxygen isotopes based on GC-IRMS (Gas Chromatography - Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry). The amount of water needed in this technique is many orders of magnitude less than in conventional techniques, nanoliters as opposed to milliliters. The volume of air sample needed, ~1 to 40 cm3, is small enough to permit sampling via aircraft based systems, eddy flux accumulators, and other low volume samplers. Samples can be taken rapidly, and with high temporal resolution heretofore impractical, if not impossible.

Analyses: