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Behrens M, Schmitt J, Richter KU, et al. A gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system for high-precision delta13C measurements of atmospheric methane extracted from ice core samples. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2008;22(20):3261-9doi: 10.1002/rcm.3720.
Behrens, M., Schmitt, J., Richter, K. U., Bock, M., Richter, U. C., Levin, I., & Fischer, H. (2008). A gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system for high-precision delta13C measurements of atmospheric methane extracted from ice core samples. Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM, 22(20), 3261-9. https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.3720
Behrens, Melanie, et al. "A gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system for high-precision delta13C measurements of atmospheric methane extracted from ice core samples." Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM vol. 22,20 (2008): 3261-9. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/rcm.3720
Behrens M, Schmitt J, Richter KU, Bock M, Richter UC, Levin I, Fischer H. A gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system for high-precision delta13C measurements of atmospheric methane extracted from ice core samples. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2008 Oct;22(20):3261-9. doi: 10.1002/rcm.3720. PMID: 18819111.
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Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2008 Oct;22(20):3261-9. doi: 10.1002/rcm.3720.

A gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry system for high-precision delta13C measurements of atmospheric methane extracted from ice core samples.

Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM

Melanie Behrens, Jochen Schmitt, Klaus-Uwe Richter, Michael Bock, Ulrike C Richter, Ingeborg Levin, Hubertus Fischer

Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany. [email protected]

PMID: 18819111 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.3720

Abstract

Past atmospheric composition can be reconstructed by the analysis of air enclosures in polar ice cores which archive ancient air in decadal to centennial resolution. Due to the different carbon isotopic signatures of different methane sources high-precision measurements of delta13CH4 in ice cores provide clues about the global methane cycle in the past. We developed a highly automated (continuous-flow) gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) technique for ice core samples of approximately 200 g. The methane is melt-extracted using a purge-and-trap method, then separated from the main air constituents, combusted and measured as CO2 by a conventional isotope ratio mass spectrometer. One CO2 working standard, one CH4 and two air reference gases are used to identify potential sources of isotope fractionation within the entire sample preparation process and to enhance the stability, reproducibility and accuracy of the measurement. After correction for gravitational fractionation, pre-industrial air samples from Greenland ice (1831 +/- 40 years) show a delta13C(VPDB) of -49.54 +/- 0.13 per thousand and Antarctic samples (1530 +/- 25 years) show a delta13C(VPDB) of -48.00 +/- 0.12 per thousand in good agreement with published data.

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