Clumped isotope studies on CO2, Δ47, that is the excess in the isotopologue containing both13C and18O at mass 47, can be very useful since they can give temperature estimates independent of the bulk isotopic composition. The measurement itself can be affected by a number of items. Here we develop a data processing model to examine the effects different interferences might have on the final calculated value. It incorporates known issues, for example, pressure baseline,17O excess, and shifts in absolute ratios for primary reference materials and parameters used for17O correction. We also included linearity effects as well as differences in isotopologue absolute abundances at a given
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Abstract m /z . What normally would be considered acceptable mass spectrometer45R and46R linearity can skew Δ47results. That is 0.04‰/V and −0.04‰/V linearity on45R and46R respectively would also cause an apparent shift in the parameters used for17O corrections. Measurements were made on CO2(g) equilibrated with water, and we were able to match up the effects seen with model results. Linearity and small differences in amplitude between sample and working reference gas affected Δ47determination, as did apparent shifts in isotopologue abundances under different conditions. This may (partially) account for discrepancies seen in Δ47‐temperature calibrations curves between laboratories. We also developed an easy way to precisely calculate the δ13C and δ18O that works well in spreadsheets without the need for multiple iterations. -
Rationale Blood water oxygen isotope compositions can provide valuable insights into physiological processes and ecological patterns. While blood samples are commonly drawn for medical or scientific purposes, blood fractions are infrequently measured for oxygen isotopic compositions (δ18O) because such measurements are time consuming and expensive.
Methods We sampled blood from sheep, goats, and iguanas raised in field and animal laboratories into serum, EDTA, heparin, and uncoated plastic vials commonly used in medical and scientific research, then separated red blood cell (RBC) and plasma or serum blood fractions. These were injected into helium‐flushed Exetainer tubes where they naturally outgassed endogenous CO2(goat blood), or into He‐ and CO2‐flushed tubes (iguana blood). The CO2gas was sampled on a GasBench II system, and δ18O was measured by an isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS).
Results Repeated δ18O measurements were stable over multiple days. The addition of desiccated blood solids to water standards had little impact on their δ18O measurements, suggesting that organic molecular constituents within blood serum and plasma do not interfere with blood water δ18O values. We observed slight but statistically significant δ18O offsets between plasma, serum and RBC fractions. Mass‐dependent body water turnover times for iguanas were derived from the data.
Conclusions We demonstrate that a simple blood‐CO2equilibration method using the GasBench can quickly, reliably and accurately characterize water δ18O in the plasma, RBC, and whole blood fractions of mammalian and reptilian blood samples (precision ≤ 0.1‰). This method will expand the application of blood stable isotope analysis in physiological and medical research.
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Abstract Research on coralline algal responses to ocean acidification and other environmental stressors has increased in recent years as coralline algae is thought to stand a higher chance of being affected by acidification stress than other macroalgae. To provide context and enhance the existing eco‐physiological framework for climate change studies, it is important to understand the effects of non‐extreme stressors experienced regularly by inter‐tidal coralline algae. In this study, we tested the potentially interacting effects of diurnal and tidal treatments on calcification in the geniculate coralline algae
Corallina frondescens andCorallina vancouveriensis using13C‐labeled bicarbonate. Both species deposited more calcium carbonate during the day than at night, and also when submerged (high tide) compared with when emerged (low tide) in their apical and mature segments (intergenicula). These results indicate that inter‐tidal coralline algae do in fact pay a cost for living inter‐tidally at the edge of an adaptive zone.