The main goal of this lab is to study the Carbon budget, its cycle in marine ecosystems, and its connectivity in space. To achieve this, the lab is equipped with advanced instruments and technology.
Picarro CRDS is a rugged, compact, and field-deployable system that measures concentration and isotope ratios. The four primary analytical measurements of the instrument are: concentration of 12CO2, 12CH4, 13C-CO2, and 13C-CH4 with a resolution in parts per billion. Picarro Analyzers use time-based, optical absorption spectroscopy of target gases to determine concentration. They are based on wavelength-scanned cavity ring-down spectroscopy WS−CRDS, a technology in which light re-circulates many times through the sample, creating a long effective path length for the light to interact with the sample, enabling detection sensitivity in a compact and rugged instrument. The samples used in this instruments could be gas, liquid or solid. The Picarro measures δ13C in CO2 and CH4 at the same time in atmospheric concentration or connected to a CO2 generation module for carbonates/DIC analysis.
The Total Organic Carbon TOC analyzers TOC−LCHSShimadzu,ASIandTotalNitrogen adopts the 680°C combustion catalytic oxidation method, while providing an ultra wide range of 4 μg/L to 30,000 mg/L. These analyzers have a detection limit of 4 μg/L through coordination with NDIR. This is the highest level of detection sensitivity available with the combustion catalytic oxidation method. This method makes it possible to efficiently oxidize not only easily-decomposed, low-molecular-weight organic compounds, but also hard-to-decompose insoluble and macromolecular organic compounds. Based on the similar oxidation process, the TN determination can be carried out simultaneously with the TOC measurement. For this application, the TNM-L option is installed on the main TOC-L system.
The Aurora 1030W TOC Analyzer processes aqueous samples for analysis of total organic carbon (TOC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), and non-purgeable organic carbon (NPOC) content. Using heated persulfate oxidation technology, samples containing 2 ppb to 30,000 ppm of organic carbon can be analyzed. Up to 300 samples per 24-hour period can be analyzed. The Picarro δ13C-CO2 analyzer is coupled with an Aurora 1030W TOC Analyzer from OI, the system provides δ13C measurements of the dissolved carbon in water samples.