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Effect of Elemental Sulfur (S8) on Carbon Isotope Analysis of n-Alkanes

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Abstract

Stable carbon isotopes of long-chain n-alkanes in lake sediments have been used for reconstructing past environmental changes. Gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry coupled to a combustion unit is the commonly applied technique for compound-specific carbon isotope analysis. This paper shows that sulfur in the lacustrine sediment can cause severe interference during the mass spectrometric measurement, leading to significant biases in δ13C of n-alkane. The δ13C deviation could be resulted from additional 12C33S+, 13C32S+ at mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) 45, and 12C34S+, H2C32S+at m/z 46, respectively. Such elemental sulphur interference can be eliminated by the activated copper in the pretreatment procedure.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41888101 and 41672168), the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA2007020202 and XDA2007020205), and the Beijing Geological survey project (11000022T000000440137 and 11000022T000000440175). In addition, we are very grateful to the associated editor Prof. Mikhail Spasennykh and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on our article, as well as the time and effort of Dr. Tatiana Shishkina in editing and contacting.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Geological Survey, 102206, Beijing, China

    Mengmeng Cao

  2. Beijing Municipal Staff Innovation Studio (Urban Geology, Active Structure and Monitoring), 102206, Beijing, China

    Mengmeng Cao

  3. Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100029, Beijing, China

    Mengmeng Cao & Jimin Sun

  4. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 710061, Xi’an, China

    Yunning Cao & Weiguo Liu

  5. Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jimin Sun

  6. Key Laboratory of Tibetan Environment Changes and Land Surface Processes, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100101, Beijing, China

    Juzhi Hou

  7. Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, 430074, Wuhan, China

    Juzhi Hou

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Mengmeng Cao, Cao, Y., Sun, J. et al. Effect of Elemental Sulfur (S8) on Carbon Isotope Analysis of n-Alkanes. Geochem. Int. 61, 1155–1163 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016702923080049

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