Convenient Labelling Technique for Mass Spectrometry - Acid Catalyzed Deuterium and Oxygen-18 Exchange via Gas-liquid Chromatography

Mass spectrometry labelling technique - acid catalyzed deuterium and oxygen 18 exchange by gas-liquid chromatograph

Depth sensitive sampling of implanted species in Genesis Collectors using UV laser ablation and SIMS

SIMS profiling of laser abalation pits in CVD diamond implanted with oxygen- 18 shows that homogenised 193nm excimer laser beam can successfully ablate a layer a few nm thick, removing surface contamination without signicant loss of implanted sample

Hominin palaeoecology in Late Pliocene Malawi : first insights from isotopes (13C, 18O) in mammal teeth

Carbon-13 and oxygen-18 abundances were measured in large mammal skeletal remains (tooth enamel, dentine and bone) from the Chiwondo Beds in Malawi, which were dated by biostratigraphic correlation to ca. 2.5 million years ago. The biologic isotopic patterns, in particular the difference in carbon-13 abundances between grazers and browsers and the difference in oxygen-18 abundances between semi-aquatic and terrestrial herbivores, were preserved in enamel, but not in dentine and bone. The isotopic results obtained from the skeletal remains from the Chiwondo Beds indicate a dominance of savannah habitats with some trees and shrubs. This environment was more arid than the contemporaneous Ndolanya Beds in Tanzania. The present study confirms that robust australopithecines were able to live in relatively arid environments and were not confined to more mesic environments elsewhere in southern Africa

Rare isotope studies involving catalytic oxidation of CO over platinum-tin oxide

Results of studies utilizing normal and rare oxygen isotopes in the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide over a platinum-tin oxide catalyst substrate are presented. Chemisorption of labeled carbon monoxide on the catalyst followed by thermal desorption yielded a carbon dioxide product with an oxygen-18 composition consistent with the formation of a carbonate-like intermediate in the chemisorption process. The efficacy of a method developed for the oxygen-18 labeling of the platinum-tin oxide catalyst surface for use in closed cycle pulsed care isotope carbon dioxide lasers is demonstrated for the equivalent of 10 to the 6th power pulses at 10 pulses per second

Synthesis and Detection of Oxygen-18 Labeled Phosphate

Phosphorus (P) has only one stable isotope and therefore tracking P dynamics in ecosystems and inferring sources of P loading to water bodies have been difficult. Researchers have recently employed the natural abundance of the ratio of 18O/16O of phosphate to elucidate P dynamics. In addition, phosphate highly enriched in oxygen-18 also has potential to be an effective tool for tracking specific sources of P in the environment, but has so far been used sparingly, possibly due to unavailability of oxygen-18 labeled phosphate (OLP) and uncertainty in synthesis and detection. One objective of this research was to develop a simple procedure to synthesize highly enriched OLP. Synthesized OLP is made up of a collection of species that contain between zero and four oxygen-18 atoms and, as a result, the second objective of this research was to develop a method to detect and quantify each OLP species. OLP was synthesized by reacting either PCl5 or POCl3 with water enriched with 97 atom % oxygen-18 in ambient atmosphere under a fume hood. Unlike previous reports, we observed no loss of oxygen-18 enrichment during synthesis. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometertry (ESI-MS) was used to detect and quantify each species present in OLP. OLP synthesized from POCl3 contained 1.2% P18O16O3, 18.2% P18O216O2, 67.7% P18O316O, and 12.9% P18O4, and OLP synthesized from PCl5 contained 0.7% P16O4, 9.3% P18O316O, and 90.0% P18O4. We found that OLP can be synthesized using a simple procedure in ambient atmosphere without the loss of oxygen-18 enrichment and ESI-MS is an effective tool to detect and quantify OLP that sheds light on the dynamics of synthesis in ways that standard detection methods cannot

The use of the stable oxygen isotope (18O) to trace the distribution and uptake of water in riparian woodlands

Streamside vegetation forming narrow "corridors" in temperate regions, is typically dominated by deciduous tree species reflecting strong influences by human activities. Riparian woodlands depend on hydrological resources and have to adapt to rapid changes in water levels and soil moisture conditions. Three main water sources are typically present in the riparian zone: river water originating in the mountains, ground water and rainfall. Stable isotopes, such as oxygen-18, are useful tools which allow for water movement to be traced within the riparian zone and which help to identify water sources utilised by the trees growing in these areas

Application of Deuterium and Oxygen-18 to Trace Leachate Movement in Bantar Gebang Sanitary Landfill

Bantar Gebang landfill was constructed in 1986 with total area of 108 ha and approximately 6000 ton/day solid waste is disposed to this landfill. Mostly, the people living surrounding landfill get afraid of impact of the hazardous chemicals produced by waste disposal to their health. The purpose of this investigation was to study the migration of leachate to Cibitung River water and shallow groundwaters near to the river. It is possible to be done because chemical contents and isotopic characteristics of municipal landfill leachate are unique, relative to aqueous media in the most natural environments. Laser absorption method developed by the LGR (Los Gatos Research) was used to measure absolute abundances of 2HHO, HH18O and HHO in a number of water samples. In-situ measurements were also conducted as an additional parameter besides their isotopes. The δ2H of the H2O in landfill leachate was significantly enriched, with values of - 22.6 ‰ to + 4.3 ‰. This deuterium enrichment was undoubtedly due to the extensive production of microbial methane within the limited reservoir of the landfill. However, the enriched deuterium value in leachate was not detected in the river which still had depleted values. It was probably caused by the amount of natural water in the river was comparatively large, with respect to limited leachate discarded to the river. The electrical conductivity of the leachate was higher (3200 to 7600 μS) and the decreasing values were still monitored in the river to approximately 12 km after streaming the landfills. The effect of the high electrical conductivity and enriched deuterium of leachate was not clearly indicated in the groundwater samples which still represented the local precipitation recharge, except a monitoring well located in Bantar Gebang landfill area which has an indication of leachate contamination. Received: 20 November 2010; Revised: 15 June 2011; Accepted: 25 July 201

Stable isotopic labeling in proteomics

Labeling of proteins and peptides with stable heavy isotopes (deuterium, carbon-13, nitrogen-15, and oxygen-18) is widely used in quantitative proteomics. These are either incorporated metabolically in cells and small organisms, or postmetabolically in proteins and peptides by chemical or enzymatic reactions. Only upon measurement with mass spectrometers holding sufficient resolution, light, and heavy labeled peptide ions or reporter peptide fragment ions segregate and their intensity values are subsequently used for quantification. Targeted use of these labels or mass tags further leads to specific monitoring of diverse aspects of dynamic proteomes. In this review article, commonly used isotope labeling strategies are described, both for quantitative differential protein profiling and for targeted analysis of protein modifications

Apports des traçages artificiel et naturel à la connaissance des circulations et des zones de recharge en région semi-aride: cas de l'Atlas de Beni Mellal (Maroc)

Pour mieux comprendre les modalités d'alimentation des sources de l'Atlas, des campagnes de coloration et d'analyses isotopiques ont été effectuées sur l'ensemble des sources. La disparité des circulations, la variabilité des vitesses et des taux de restitution, révèlent un aquifère complexe ou à plusieurs entrées. La majorité des écoulements convergent vers la source de Ain Asserdoune qui constitue une zone d'abaissement d'axe de plis. L'étude isotopique montre la variation des teneurs en 180 avec l'altitude des zones de recharge des différents exutoires et avec la saison. Les gradients définis autorisent la détermination de l'altitude moyenne des impluviums des systèmes jusqu'alors mal connus, en particulier celui de l'exutoire principal du massif, Ain Asserdoune.The chalky massif of Beni-Mellal, which supplies many springs, spreads over a 365 km2 area of 500 to 2400 meters elevation (average altitude, 1200 m). Rainfall in this sector varies between 400 mm and 700 mm/year. All springs emerge along the major coastal fault giving the Liassic massif overthrushing the Cenozoic lands of piemont. The most important is Ain Asserdoune spring with an average discharge of about 1.1 m3/s. The mainly chalky and dolomitic formations are very fractured according to preferential directions (N150-180 and N50-70) and show some karstification features at the surface. Some tracing experiments with fluorescein allowed the delimitation of the boundaries of the intake area of Ain Asserdoune Basin and the determination of the groundwater flow velocity. Two types of flow were identified with fast (100 to 231 m/h) and slow circulation (< 100 m/h). Most of circulations converge towards the spring of Ain Asserdoune (fig. 1) with an important intake area. This convergence results from an axis lowering. The variability of the circulation axes, the velocity and the rate of restitution suggest either a complex aquifer or an aquifer with several inputs.Two water samplings (the first for the Beni Mellal Atlas) were carriet out in March and in September 1993 on the several springs, in order to study the variations of the oxygen-18 isotope. The oxygen-18 contents range between - 5.5 per thousand and - 7.7 per thousand (table 2). The most depleted waters directly exit from the Liassic aquifer or emerge at high altitudes; those which are richer in oxygen-18 emerge at the level of foothills, either from the Tertiary or from Liassic scales. The relationship between the oxygen-18 and the H-2 content of some samples indicates that the points are aligned along the world meteoric line (Craig, 1961). Even if the waters of Dir (piemont) springs are slighly evaporated because they partly originate in seeping Liassic waters, oxygen-18 content is probably mainly controlled by an altitude effect. Oxygen-18 data for local precipitations are not available; however, a local relationship between oxygen-18 content and mean recharge altitude was etablished for eleven (11) springs with small recharge areas whose mean altitude may be estimated from topography and geology. Oxygen 18 ratio is very well correlated to recharge average elevation for spring samples ( [delta]per thousand (O - 18)=- 3 - 0,0026 x altitude, r=0,96, fig. 3), when it is not for autumn samples. This gradient is very close to the regional relationship proposed by Marce (1975) and Kabbaj et al. (1978) (slope: 3 per thousand in oxygen-18 per 1,000 m ). This difference is attributed to the seasonal variations in the origin of water that feeds the springs. In the high water season, the whole basin area contributes to the recharge. In contrast, during low water period, water mainly originates from altitudes higher than the mean altitude of the basin, probably with a longer transit time. The seasonal variations are particularly marked for the Dir (piemont) springs (with a lower flux and intake area range of 800 to 1,200 m). They are weaker for the Lias springs and even non-existent for the main spring of the massif, Ain Asserdoune. In this latter case, the smoothing (- 7.6 per thousand and - 7.5 per thousand) of seasonal variation (which is also observed for temperature: 15.5 to 16°C ) gives evidence of important water reserves. A mean recharge altitude higher than 1,700 m may be proposed for Ain Asseroune. Based on this analysis, some emergences which in the part were assigned to the same hydrologic system can now be discriminated. On the other hand, with a similar value of oxygen-18 ratio, rather distant springs can be considered as belonging to the same hydrogeological Atlasic unit. So the relationship which was quantified (slope: 2.6 per thousand in oxygen-18 per 1,000 m) is usable for the whole Atlasic range on account of regionaly similar weather. The methodology selected in this work corroborates the results obtained by hydrometric analysis concerning the very important groundwater reserves in the Beni Mellal aquifer