The Stable Isotope Lab has two gas-source isotope ratio mass spectrometers. Isotopic ratios of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur can be routinely measured. Converting a natural sample into gaseous form requires either manual preparation offline or the use of a peripheral device. The lab has glass vacuum lines for manual sample preparation and five peripheral units which automate the preparation of samples and input directly into a mass spectrometer. Types of samples that have been analyzed include water, DIC, snow, soil, soil gas, wood, cellulose, compound specific organic extracts, hair, fish, insects, and carbonates. In addition to the isotope ratio instrumentation, the lab has a DOC/DIC analyzer, a particle size analyzer and hosts glass-blowing facilities.

Laboratory Research Topics:

• Hydrogen and oxygen isotope studies of tree rings
• Oxygen and hydrogen isotopic compositions in leaf water
• Study of plants’ water used efficiency using C isotopes of tree rings
• Carbon and nitrogen cycles in plant-soil systems
• Isotope hydrology and hydrochemistry