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Carbon Isotopic Compositions (carbon + isotopic_composition)
Selected AbstractsModern Sphagnum,13C signatures follow a surface moisture gradient in two boreal peat bogs, James Bay lowlands, Québec,JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE, Issue 3 2009Julie Loisel Abstract Carbon isotopic composition of Sphagnum macrofossils can potentially be used as a palaeohydrological tool for peat-based climatic studies since a relationship between Sphagnum ,13C values and peatland surface moisture has been presented in previous studies. In order to verify this hypothesis, modern Sphagnum,13C values were measured along a moisture (microtopographic) gradient in two boreal peat bogs. Isotopic measurements were performed on bulk material of S. fuscum, S. magellanicum, S. capillifolium and S. pulchrum. Isotopic variations found within and between Sphagnum species along the microtopographic gradient were compared using analysis of variance. A significant positive correlation (P,<,0.0001) was found between Sphagnum,13C values and their position along the surface moisture gradient. Results show that 13C-depleted values are related to low water table depths (WTD), while 13C-enriched values correspond to a water table that is close to the peat surface. Although the mechanisms underlying carbon fractionation processes in mosses are not well understood, we demonstrate that water resistance to CO2 diffusion is an important fractionation process that is observed in bulk Sphagnum,13C measurements, since drier and wetter samples exhibit consistent and very different isotopic signatures. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Incorporating life histories and diet quality in stable isotope interpretations of crustacean zooplanktonFRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 7 2008MARC VENTURA Summary 1. Stable isotope studies have been extremely useful for improving general food web descriptions due to their ability to simultaneously summarize complex trophic networks and track the energy flow through them. However, when considering trophic relationships involving only two or few species, application of general isotopic interpretations based on average fractionation values may easily lead to misleading conclusions. In these cases a more accurate consideration of the current processes involved in the isotopic fractionation should be considered. 2. We investigated the trophic relationships of the crustacean zooplankton assemblage in an alpine lake (Lake Redon, Pyrenees) by means of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen and applied information on their life history and biochemical composition in the interpretation. 3. The three species occurring in the lake had distinct isotopic signatures: the two copepod species (the cyclopoid Cyclops abyssorum and the calanoid Diaptomus cyaneus) had higher nitrogen isotopic composition than the cladoceran (Daphnia pulicaria), indicative of a higher trophic position of the two copepods. Most intra-specific isotopic variability was associated with growth, while the effect of metabolic turnover was negligible. The effects of changes in the proportion of lipids was restricted to the adults of the two copepods. 4. Daphnia Juveniles showed ontogenetic shifts in their carbon, and nitrogen isotopic composition. Cyclops copepodites only showed changes in carbon isotopic composition. These isotopic shifts with changes in size were the result of: (i) the prevalence of growth over metabolic turnover as the main factor for isotopic variability and (ii) feeding, during the growth period, on isotopically depleted food in the case of Daphnia, and on isotopically enriched food in the case of Cyclops. 5. The carbon isotopic variation in Cyclops juveniles could be explained by fitting an isotopic growth model that considered that they fed entirely on Daphnia. However this was not the case for nitrogen isotopic variability. Cyclops nitrogen isotopic composition variation and the Cyclops to Daphnia nitrogen isotopic enrichment were closely correlated to the quantity of Daphnia protein and to the dissimilarity in the essential amino acid composition between the two species, which can be interpreted as an indication of consumer nitrogen limitation. [source] Seasonal diet changes of the forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni Thomas) based on the carbon isotopic composition of hairAFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 2 2004Thure E. Cerling Abstract The stable carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of forest hog hair is used to estimate seasonal diet changes in forest hogs from Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda. This detailed record of diet shows that the forest hogs on Mweya Peninsula consume up to 20% grass at the beginning of the rainy season, and very little grass during the rest of the year. Correlation of isotope patterns between individuals from the same sounder show that a single animal records the group behaviour. Résumé La composition stable des isotopes de carbone et d'azote dans les poils d'hylochère est utilisée pour estimer les changements saisonniers de l'alimentation des hylochères du Parc National Queen Elizabeth, en Ouganda. Ce rapport détaillé du régime alimentaire montre que les hylochères de la péninsule de Mweya consomment jusqu'à 20% d'herbe au début de la saison des pluies, et très peu d'herbe le reste de l'année. La corrélation des patterns d'isotopes entre individus d'une même compagnie montre qu'un seul animal suffit pour rapporter le comportement de tout le groupe. [source] Diagenesis of the Amposta offshore oil reservoir (Amposta Marino C2 well, Lower Cretaceous, Valencia Trough, Spain)GEOFLUIDS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2010E. PLAYÀ Abstract Samples from the Amposta Marino C2 well (Amposta oil field) have been investigated in order to understand the origin of fractures and porosity and to reconstruct the fluid flow history of the basin prior, during and after oil migration. Three main types of fracture systems and four types of calcite cements have been identified. Fracture types A and B are totally filled by calcite cement 1 (CC1) and 2 (CC2), respectively; fracture type A corresponds to pre-Alpine structures, while type B is attributed to fractures developed during the Alpine compression (late Eocene-early Oligocene). The oxygen, carbon and strontium isotope compositions of CC2 are close to those of the host-rock, suggesting a high degree of fluid-rock interaction, and therefore a relatively closed palaeohydrogeological system. Fracture type C, developed during the Neogene extension and enlarged by subaerial exposure, tend to be filled with reddish (CS3r) and greenish (CS3g) microspar calcite sediment and blocky calcite cement type 4 (CC4), and postdated by kaolinite, pyrite, barite and oil. The CS3 generation records lower oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions and higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios than the host-limestones. These CS3 karstic infillings recrystallized early within evolved-meteoric waters having very little interaction with the host-rock. Blocky calcite cement type 4 (CC4 generation) has the lowest oxygen isotope ratio and the most radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr values, indicating low fluid-rock interaction. The increasingly open palaeohydrogeological system was dominated by migration of hot brines with elevated oxygen isotope ratios into the buried karstic system. The main oil emplacement in the Amposta reservoir occurred after the CC4 event, closely related to the Neogene extensional fractures. Corrosion of CC4 (blocky calcite cement type 4) occurred prior to (or during) petroleum charge, possibly related to kaolinite precipitation from relatively acidic fluids. Barite and pyrite precipitation occurred after this corrosion. The sulphur source associated with the late precipitation of pyrite was likely related to isotopically light sulphur expelled, e.g. as sulphide, from the petroleum source rock (Ascla Fm). Geofluids (2010) 10, 314,333 [source] Origins of hydrocarbons in the Sagara oil field, central JapanISLAND ARC, Issue 3 2006Tomohiro Toki Abstract We collected free-gas and in situ fluid samples up to a depth of 200.6 m from the Sagara oil field, central Japan (34°44,N, 138°15,E), during the Sagara Drilling Program (SDP) and measured the concentrations and stable carbon isotopic compositions of CH4 and C2H6 in the samples. A combination of the CH4/C2H6 ratios with the carbon isotope ratios of methane indicates that the hydrocarbon gases are predominantly of thermogenic origin at all depths. The isotope signature of hydrocarbon gases of ,13 < ,13 suggests that these gases in the Sagara oil field are not generated by polymerization, but by the decomposition of organic materials. [source] Determination of the stable carbon isotopic compositions of 2-methyltetrols in ambient aerosols from the Changbai MountainsRAPID COMMUNICATIONS IN MASS SPECTROMETRY, Issue 11 2010Li Li Isoprene is one of the most important non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) in the troposphere: it is a significant precursor of O3 and it affects the oxidative state of the atmosphere. The diastereoisomeric 2-methyltetrols, 2-methylthreitol and 2-methylerythritol, are marker compounds of the photooxidation products of atmospheric isoprene. In order to obtain valuable information on the ,13C value of isoprene in the atmosphere, the stable carbon isotopic compositions of the 2-methyltetrols in ambient aerosols were investigated. The 2-methyltetrols were extracted from filter samples and derivatized with methylboronic acid, and the ,13C values of the methylboronate derivatives were determined by gas chromatography/combustion/isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS). The ,13C values of the 2-methyltetrols were then calculated through a simple mass balance equation between the 2-methyltetrols, methylboronic acid and the methylboronates. The ,13C values of the 2-methyltetrols in aerosol samples collected at the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserves in eastern China were found to be ,24.66,±,0.90, and ,24.53,±,1.08, for 2-methylerythritol and 2-methylthreitol, respectively. Based on the measured isotopic composition of the 2-methyltetrols, the average ,13C value of atmospheric isoprene is inferred to be close to or slightly heavier than ,24.66, at the collection site during the sampling period. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] REE, Mn, Fe, Mg and C, O Isotopic Geochemistry of Calcites from Furong Tin Deposit, South China: Evidence for the Genesis of the Hydrothermal Ore-forming FluidsRESOURCE GEOLOGY, Issue 1 2010Yan Shuang Abstract The Furong tin deposit in the central Nanling region, South China, consists of three main types of mineralization ores, i.e. skarn-, altered granite- and greisen-type ores, hosted in Carboniferous and Permian strata and Mesozoic granitic intrusions. Calcite is the dominant gangue mineral intergrown with ore bodies in the orefield. We have carried out REE, Mn, Fe, and Mg geochemical and C, and O isotopic studies on calcites to constrain the source and evolution of the ore-forming fluids. The calcites from the Furong deposit exhibit middle negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*= 0.311,0.921), except for one which has an Eu/Eu* of 1.10, with the total REE content of 5.49,133 ppm. The results show that the calcites are characterized by two types of REE distribution patterns: a LREE-enriched pattern and a flat REE pattern. The LREE-enriched pattern of calcites accompanying greisen-type ore and skarn-type ore are similar to those of Qitianling granite. The REE, Mn, Fe, and Mg abundances of calcites exhibit a decreasing tendency from granite rock mass to wall rock, i.e. these abundances of calcites associated with altered granite-type and greisen-type ores are higher than those associated with skarn-type ores. The calcites from primary ores in the Furong deposit show large variation in carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions. The ,13C and ,18O of calcites are ,0.4 to ,12.7, and 2.8 to 16.4,, respectively, and mainly fall within the range between mantle or magmatic carbon and marine carbonate. The calcites from greisen and altered granite ores in the Furong deposit display a negative correlation in the diagram of ,13C versus ,18O, probably owing to the CO2 -degassing of the ore-forming fluids. From the intrusion to wall-rock, the calcites display an increasing tendency with respect to ,13C values. This implies that the carbon isotopic compositions of the ore-bearing fluids have progressively changed from domination by magmatic carbon to sedimentary carbonate carbon. In combination with other geological and geochemical data, we suggest that the ore-forming fluids represent magmatic origin. We believe that the fluids exsolved from fractionation of the granitic magma, accompanying magmatism of the Qitianling granite complex, were involved in the mineralization of the Furong tin polymetallic deposit. [source] |