Premium
On‐line nitrate‐δ 15 N extracted from groundwater determined by continuous‐flow elemental analyzer/isotope ratio mass spectrometry
Author(s) -
Stickrod R. D.,
Marshall J. D.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0231(20000730)14:14<1266::aid-rcm21>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - chemistry , mass spectrometry , isotope ratio mass spectrometry , analytical chemistry (journal) , nitrate , stable isotope ratio , spectrum analyzer , isotope analysis , elemental analysis , nitrogen , flow injection analysis , detection limit , chromatography , inorganic chemistry , ecology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , electrical engineering , biology , engineering
Nitrate‐δ 15 N from groundwater samples is determined on an inorganic nitrate derivative using automated, continuous‐flow elemental analyzer/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA/IRMS). Nitrate is extracted and concentrated based on a recently published ion‐exchange resin method. Freeze‐dried AgNO 3 (0.5–1.5 mg) is packed in silver‐foil cups and combusted within the reactor of an NC2500 elemental analyzer (CE Instruments, Milan, Italy) using its existing reaction scheme for nitrogen and carbon analysis. δ 15 N is determined using a Finnigan MAT DELTA plus isotope ratio mass spectrometer (Bremen, Germany). Results are drift‐corrected to a AgNO 3 working standard that has been calibrated against known AgNO 3 . Despite high concentrations of carbonate, the precision for all runs is better than 0.10‰. The combination of this extraction procedure with commercially available δ 15 N analysis instrumentation offers a precise on‐line alternative to existing methods, with considerable reduction in labor and analysis time. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.