Online Measurement Technique on <sup>15</sup>N and <sup>18</sup>O Isotopes of Nitrate in Groundwater

Wen XU; Jian-wei ZHOU; Cun-fu LIU; Yi-qun GAN; Yun-de LIU; Yan-peng ZHANG

Rock and Mineral Analysis > 2013 > 32(2): 305-312.

Wen XU, Jian-wei ZHOU, Cun-fu LIU, Yi-qun GAN, Yun-de LIU, Yan-peng ZHANG. Online Measurement Technique on ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O Isotopes of Nitrate in Groundwater[J]. Rock and Mineral Analysis, 2013, 32(2): 305-312.

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Online Measurement Technique on ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O Isotopes of Nitrate in Groundwater

Wen XU^1,2,3, ,,
Jian-wei ZHOU^1,2, ,,
Cun-fu LIU^1,2,
Yi-qun GAN^1,2,
Yun-de LIU^1,2,3,
Yan-peng ZHANG^1,2,3

1.
School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China
2.
State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China
3.
Graduate School of China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan 430074, China

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Received Date: July 25, 2012
Accepted Date: August 20, 2012
Published Date: March 31, 2013

Abstract

ABSTRACT

The studying of ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O in soil and water can be used to identify the origin, transportation and transformation of the nitrate, which provides reliable evidence for the remediation of the polluted environment. At present, high-temperature pyrolysis is the most widely used method for assessing ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O. However, NO from the ion source may interfere with the measurement of δ¹⁸O, which is efficiently reduced by the He dilution method. In this article, the selection of four international standards (IAEA-No-3, USGS32, USGS34 and USGS35) and one laboratory standard (CUGL-No-1) are documented to verify the practicability of high-temperature pyrolysis. Over the course of eight months, 238 tests were conducted for 100 groundwater samples by using coupled elemental analyser and MAT 253 stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer (EA-IRMS). Three new conclusions were obtained through the study. Firstly, the low cost target sample of KNO₃ was convenient for the comparison to the international standards. Secondly, it was concluded that online high-temperature pyrolysis was the best method to study ¹⁵N and ¹⁸O in nitrate of standards and samples. In this research, the sample amount of KNO₃ was only 500 μg. Moreover, the values of δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O were determined simultaneously in one sample input, which took just 720 s and had the added advantages of being rapid and having high efficiency. The accuracies of δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O were 0.25‰ and 0.6‰, respectively, which were close to the corresponding international level. Thirdly, the He dilution method reduced the interference to δ¹⁸O without any improvement of the EA-IRMS system.
- groundwater,
- nitrate,
- nitrogen and oxygen isotopes,
- online high temperature pyrolysis

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References (22)

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