Stable isotope analysis has been used as a technique to analyse fisheries food webs for a quarter of a century, and remains the principal method for determining energy and nutrient pathways from primary producers to consumers in aquatic ecosystems. Carbon isotope analysis has been used to distinguish autotrophs at the base of inshore and offshore fisheries food webs. The combination of nitrogen...

We report on the attainment of Bose-Einstein condensation with ultracold strontium atoms. We use the (84)Sr isotope, which has a low natural abundance but offers excellent scattering properties for evaporative cooling. Accumulation in a metastable state using a magnetic-trap, narrowline cooling, and straightforward evaporative cooling in an optical trap lead to pure condensates containing 1.5 x...

Geochemical research into volcanic rocks often involves isotopic analysis of whole rock powders. The method of Deniel and Pin (Anal. Chim. Acta, 2001, 426, 95-103) for simultaneous isolation of strontium and lead using extraction chromatography via Sr spec resin was therefore adapted into a straightforward procedure for Sr and Pb isotope ratio determination by multi-collector inductively couple...

This is an eclectic review and analysis of contemporary and promising stable isotope methodologies to study the biology and ecology of arthropods. It is augmented with literature from other disciplines, indicative of the potential for knowledge transfer. It is demonstrated that stable isotopes can be used to understand fundamental processes in the biology and ecology of arthropods, which range ...

We describe a simple strontium vapor cell for laser spectroscopy experiments. Strontium vapor is produced using an electrically heated commercial dispenser source. The sealed cell operates at room temperature, and without a buffer gas or vacuum pump. The cell was characterized using laser spectroscopy, and was found to offer stable and robust operation, with an estimated lifetime of >10 000 h. ...

introduction one of the first principles in the formation of a reserve is mineralogical, construction and mineral textures studies and investigation of paragenetic relations in the ore minerals. in addition, to petrographic studies, isotopic investigates have wide applications in economic geology. in general, copper isotope variability in primary (high temperature) mineralization forms a tight ...

Mercury concentrations, together with nitrogen and carbon stable isotope signatures, were determined in body feather samples from northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis and great skuas Catharacta skua, and in different flight feathers from great skuas. There were no significant relationships between trophic status, as defined using isotope analysis, and mercury concentration in the same feather ty...

Research that uses stable isotope analysis often involves a delay between sample collection in the field and laboratory processing, therefore requiring preservation to prevent or reduce tissue degradation and associated isotopic compositions. Although there is a growing literature describing the effects of various preservation techniques, the results are often contextual, unpredictable and vary...

Carbon stable isotope analysis is one of the most common methods for validating theories about the role microphytobenthos (MPB) plays in estuarine food webs. However, difficulties extracting MPB from sediments to determine a pure isotope signature have hampered such studies. We have developed compound-specific isotope analysis (CSIA) of phytol δ13C (δCphytol) as an accurate proxy for δ 13C of b...