Stable Isotope Laboratory
The Stable Isotope Laboratory was established in 1981 to foster the applications of light stable isotopes of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen to problems in geology and archaeology. We actively encourage student research at the undergraduate as well as graduate level; the laboratory has supported diverse activities ranging from surface water hydrology to evolution of the Earth's mantle. Major areas of research emphasis now include paleoclimatology, global cycles, hydrology, fluid-rock interaction, and petrology. The laboratory is an open facility and since its inception has generated over 90,000 stable isotope determinations on samples of interest to industry and academia.
MASS SPECTROMETERS
Finnigan-MAT 251: HD, CO2
Commissioned: 1982, modified 1993
Permanent magnet, triple-collector CO2, HD collector, microvolume inlet system
Finnigan-MAT 252: HD, O2, N2, CO2
Commissioned: 1994
Electromagnet configuration, multiple-sample inlet system, GC-interface for peak
integration mode, 6 fixed Faraday collectors for CO2, N2, and O2, separate HD collector assembly, differentially pumped for GC-mass spectrometry, microvolume inlet system
Finnigan-MAT 253: HD, O2, N2, CO2
Commissioned: 2010
Electromagnet configuration, multiple-sample inlet system, GC-interface for peak
integration mode, 10 fixed Faraday collectors for CO2, N2, and O2, separate HD collector assembly, and clumped isotope capability, differentially pumped for GC-mass spectrometry, microvolume inlet system
Elementar IsoPrime100: N2, H2, CO2, CO
Received: 2019
Electromagnet configuration, continuous flow inlet system, 4 fixed Faraday collectors for CO2, N2, and O2, separate HD collector assembly
PERIPHERALS
Costech Elemental Analyzer
Continuous flow device for use with organic and soil materials for elemental and isotopic compositions (nitrogen and carbon)
ThermoFinnigan TC/EA
Continuous flow device for use with waters, organic, and soil materials for elemental and isotopic compositions (oxygen and hydrogen)
ThermoFinniganGasBench
Continuous flow device for use with waters for oxygen and hydrogen isotopes (through equilibration), waters for DIC (through acid digestion), carbonates (through acid digestion), and breath gas analysis.
ThermoFinnigan H-Device
Vacuum system for use with water and methane samples to determine hydrogen isotopic compositions.
Agilent 7890A GC with Elementar GC-5 combustion interface
Continuous flow system capable of separating carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen compounds from gas or liquid samples. These elements are converted to a measurable gas in the combustion interface for isotopic analysis.
EXTRACTION LINES/SAMPLE PREPARATION FACILITIES
Fluorination lines (ClF3 or BrF5) silicate and phosphate oxygen
Carbonate oxygen and carbon line with 25-90 degrees C water bath reaction temperatures
Water oxygen (H2O/CO2 equilibration)
Cellulose line for oxygen isotope extraction for tree-ring paleoclimatology studies
Radio frequency and resistance furnace lines for hydrogen and carbon extraction from minerals, fluid inclusions, whole rocks, and organic matter
Mineral preparation facilities for magnetic or heavy-liquid mineral separations.
Binocular microscopes and drills for micro-sampling
Gas mixing table for the preparation of isotopic standards
PERSONNEL
Professors
R.T. Gregory, Ph.D. (1981) California Institute of Technology; BA (1974) University of California, San Diego.
C.J. Yapp, Ph.D. (1980) California Institute of Technology; BS (1971) University Wisconsin.
N.J. Tabor, Ph.D. (2002) University of California, Davis; MS (1999) University of California, Davis; BS (1996)
University of Nebraska
Lab Director
John Robbins, Ph.D. (2010) Southern Methodist University; MS (2007) Southern Methodist University; BA (2004) Southern Methodist University.
Research Associates
I. Richards, Ph.D. (1994) University of Tennessee; BSC[Hon.] (1985) Monash University, Australia.
Contact Us
Those interested in services provided by the Stable Isotope Laboratory should contact: