The stable hydrogen (delta(2)H) and oxygen (delta(18)O) isotope ratios of organic and inorganic materials record biological and physical processes through the effects of substrate isotopic composition and fractionations that occur as reactions proceed. At large scales, these processes can exhibit spatial predictability because of the effects of coherent climatic patterns over the Earth's surfac...

Ultrasonic slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (USSETV-ID-ICP-MS) has been applied to the determination of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in several ®sh reference samples. NH4NO3 was added to the sample solution to work as a modi®er. Since the sensitivity of the elements studied in ®sh slurry and aqueous solution was quite different, isot...

Stable isotope ratios of the life science elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen vary slightly, but significantly in major compartments of the earth. Owing mainly to antropogenic activities including land use change and fossil fuel burning, the 13C/12C ratio of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed over the last 200 years by 1.5 parts per thousand (from about 0.0111073 to 0.0110906). In bet...

The oxygen isotope ratio (δO) in tissues is the outcome of both climatic and geographical factors in a given individual’s place of abode, as well as the physiology and metabolism of his organism. During an individual’s life, various rates and intensities of physiological and metabolic processes are observable in the organism, also within the bone tissue. The aim of this study is to verify wheth...

The isotope ratio, Rb/Rb, places constraints on models of the nucleosynthesis of heavy elements, but there is no precise determination of the ratio for material beyond the Solar System. We report the first measurement of the interstellar Rb isotope ratio. Our measurement of the Rb I line at 7800 Å for the diffuse gas toward ρ Oph A yields a value of 1.21 ± 0.30 (1-σ) that differs significantly ...

While the quantification of uranium is therefore demanding in the diluted sample, uranium isotope ratio determination requires the ultimate in instrumental performance as good precisions for large isotope ratios are required at low concentrations. The abundances of the three naturally occurring U isotopes are shown in Table 1, together with the 234U/238U and 235U/238U ratios. The nuclear indust...