Carbon and Nitrogen isotope and elemental analysis of solid tissue and soil samples.

Sample Requirements

• Samples should be thoroughly dried and homogenized/powdered prior to analysis.
• Samples should be encapsulated inside a tin capsule (Elementar p/n 200014577). The capsule should be rolled tight into a ball to eliminate any pockets of air and sharp edges.
• For reliable isotope measurements we need a minimum of 50 μg of nitrogen and carbon in the sample.
• Vanadium pentoxide (to aid in combustion) must be mixed with the sample if weighing more than 50 mg sample (ex. soil) or hard to combust material (ex. precipitates).
• Samples should be submitted in 96 well trays. Please do not leave any empty wells between samples.
• Use separate plates for natural abundance and enriched samples.
• Based on the sample C:N ratio, it may be possible to measure both δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N on a single sample although this may require separate samples in some cases.

Encapsulated solid samples are analyzed using our Vario Isotope Cube (Elementar) coupled to the IsoPrime Vision IRMS(Elementar). Isotopic calibration of data is performed using in-house standards where we attempt to match sample type and isotope values between samples and standards.