Oxygen Isotope Exchange between O2 and CO2 over Hot Platinum: An Innovative Technique for Measuring Δ17O in CO2

New constraints of terrestrial and oceanic global gross primary productions from the triple oxygen isotopic composition of atmospheric CO2 and O2

Representations of the changing global carbon cycle under climatic and environmental perturbations require highly detailed accounting of all atmosphere and biosphere exchange. These fluxes remain unsatisfactory, as a consequence of only having data with limited spatiotemporal coverage and precision, which restrict accurate assessments. Through the nature of intimate coupling of global carbon and oxygen cycles via O₂ and CO₂ and their unique triple oxygen isotope compositions in the biosphere and atmosphere, greater insight is available. We report analysis of their isotopic compositions with the widest geographical and temporal coverage (123 new measurements for CO₂) and constrain, on an annual basis, the global CO₂ recycling time (1.5 ± 0.2 year) and gross primary productivities of terrestrial (~ 170-200 PgC/year) and oceanic (~ 90-120 PgC/year) biospheres. Observed inter-annual variations in CO₂ triple oxygen isotopic compositions were observed at a magnitude close to the largest contrast set by the terrestrial and oceanic biospheres. The seasonal cycles between the east and west Pacific Ocean were found to be drastically different. This intra-annual variability implies that the entire atmospheric CO₂ turnover time is not much longer than the tropospheric mixing time (less than ~ 5 months), verifying the derived recycling time. The new measurements, analyses, and incorporation of other global data sets allow development of an independent approach, providing a strong constraint to biogeochemical models.

A rapid high-precision analytical method for triple oxygen isotope analysis of CO2 gas using tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy

RATIONALE

The simultaneous analysis of the three stable isotopes of oxygen-triple oxygen isotope analysis-has become an important analytical technique in natural sciences. Determination of the abundance of the rare ¹⁷ O isotope in CO₂ gas using magnetic sector isotope ratio mass spectrometry is complicated by the isobaric interference of ¹⁷ O by ¹³ C (¹³ C¹⁶ O¹⁶ O and ¹² C¹⁶ O¹⁷ O, both have mass 45 amu). A number of analytical techniques have been used to measure the ¹⁷ O/¹⁶ O ratio of CO₂ gas. They either are time consuming and technically challenging or have limited precision. A rapid and precise alternative to the available analytical methods is desirable.

METHODS

We present the results of triple oxygen isotope analyses using an Aerodyne tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectroscopy (TILDAS) CO₂ analyzer configured for ¹⁶ O, ¹⁷ O, and ¹⁸ O combined with a custom gas inlet system. We evaluate the sensitivity of our results to a number of parameters. CO₂ samples with a wide range of δ¹⁸ O values (from -9.28‰ to 39.56‰) were measured and compared to results using the well-established fluorination-gas source mass spectrometry method.

RESULTS

The TILDAS system has a precision (standard error, 2σ) of better than ±0.03‰ for δ¹⁸ O and ±10 per meg for Δ'¹⁷ O values, equivalent to the precision of previous analytical methods. Samples as small as 3 μmol CO₂ (equivalent to 300 μg CaCO₃ ) can be analyzed with a total analysis time of ~30 min.

CONCLUSIONS

We have successfully developed an analytical technique for the simultaneous determination of the δ¹⁷ O and δ¹⁸ O values of CO₂ gas. The precision is equal to or better than that of existing techniques, with no additional chemical treatments required. Analysis time is rapid, and the system is easily automated so that large numbers of samples can be analyzed with minimal effort.

Temperature dependence of isotopic fractionation in the CO2 -O2 isotope exchange reaction

RATIONALE

Oxygen isotope exchange between O₂ and CO₂ in the presence of heated platinum (Pt) is an established technique for determining the δ¹⁷ O value of CO₂ . However, there is not yet a consensus on the associated fractionation factors at the steady state.

METHODS

We determined experimentally the steady-state α¹⁷ and α¹⁸ fractionation factors for Pt-catalyzed CO₂ -O₂ oxygen isotope exchange at temperatures ranging from 500 to 1200°C. For comparison, the theoretical α¹⁸ equilibrium exchange values reported by Richet et al. (1997) have been updated using the direct sum method for CO₂ and the corresponding α¹⁷ values were determined. Finally, we examined whether the steady-state fractionation factors depend on the isotopic composition of the reactants, by using CO₂ and O₂ differing in δ¹⁸ O value from -66 ‰ to +4 ‰.

RESULTS

The experimentally determined steady-state fractionation factors α¹⁷ and α¹⁸ are lower than those obtained from the updated theoretical calculations (of CO₂ -O₂ isotope exchange under equilibrium conditions) by 0.0024 ± 0.0001 and 0.0048 ± 0.0002, respectively. The offset is not due to scale incompatibilities between isotope measurements of O₂ and CO₂ nor to the neglect of non-Born-Oppenheimer effects in the calculations. There is a crossover temperature at which enrichment in the minor isotopes switches from CO₂ to O₂ . The direct sum evaluation yields a θ value of ~0.54, i.e. higher than the canonical range maximum for a mass-dependent fractionation process.

CONCLUSIONS

Updated theoretical values of α¹⁸ for equilibrium isotope exchange are lower than those derived from previous work by Richet et al. (1997). The direct sum evaluation for CO₂ yields θ values higher than the canonical range maximum for mass-dependent fractionation processes. This demonstrates the need to include anharmonic effects in the calculation and definition of mass-dependent fractionation processes for poly-atomic molecules. The discrepancy between the theory and the experimental α¹⁷ and α¹⁸ values may be due to thermal diffusion associated with the temperature gradient in the reactor.

Preparation of high-precision CO2 with known triple oxygen isotope for oxygen isotope analysis

The objective of this work is to propose a more effective way to prepare an in-house CO₂ with known triple oxygen isotope compositions. The major experimental steps include: (1) the O₂ is combusted to CO₂ on a graphite rod at 750 °C with Pt-catalyst for 3-4 min; and (2) converted CO₂ is subsequently purified by two cryogenic traps. The results show high reproducibility of δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of the converted CO₂ within 0.010-0.020 ‰ and 0.006-0.010 ‰ (1σ, SD), and the identical δ¹⁸O value within error with that of the original O₂. Additionally, we have measured the triple oxygen isotope compositions of converted CO₂ using an O₂-CO₂ Pt-catalyzed oxygen-isotope equilibration method. The measured δ¹⁷O values of CO₂ show high reproducibility within 0.006 ‰ (1σ, SD), and are identical within error with the original O₂ as well. Notably, our experiments also found that the O₂ with heavier oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O > 40 ‰, VSMOW) might have a lesser conversion efficiency, and this effect, combined with the lighter isotope preferential fractionations during the reaction processes of O₂ to CO and CO to CO₂, may explain the observed lower ¹⁷O/¹⁶O and ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios of the converted CO₂ relative to the original O₂.

Role of Vehicular Catalytic Converter Temperature in Emission of Pollutants: An Assessment Based on Isotopic Analysis of CO2 and N2O

Vehicular catalytic converters are used to regulate, reduce, and convert toxic and environmentally unfriendly compounds in exhaust gases into relatively inert and less harmful chemical species. The efficiency, however, is largely affected by the operating temperature of the converter which is set by the hot exhaust gas released from the combustion chamber. A major gas released during combustion is CO₂, and its multiply substituted isotopocule, namely, ¹³C¹⁶O¹⁸O, provides a window of opportunity to probe directly the effective temperature of the converter in operation. Here, we report multiple isotopic measurements in exhaust CO₂ (δ¹³C, δ¹⁷O, δ¹⁸O, and Δ₄₇) of diesel (trucks and buses) and gasoline (sedans, trucks, and two-wheel motorcycles)-powered vehicles. For investigating the efficiency of a converter in reducing toxic compounds, we studied NO_x processes through isotopic analysis of the exhaust N₂O. We found that the degree of N₂O reduction to N₂ in gasoline-powered vehicles is high when the temperature is above 200 °C (inferred by Δ₄₇). In contrast, diesel-powered vehicles produce N₂O in abundance, probably a consequence of selective catalytic reduction of NO_x, and the reduction efficiency depends on the converter temperature. In other words, the catalytic converters act as sinks and sources of N₂O to the atmosphere in gasoline- and diesel-operated vehicles, respectively. We also report a new set of field data by measuring the isotopic compositions of CO₂ and N₂O in the Hsuehshan tunnel, a ∼13 km long highway tunnel in Taiwan. Elevated N₂O concentrations inside the tunnel indicate that the emission of N₂O by heavy-duty diesel vehicles is much higher compared to the reduction by gasoline-operated passenger cars, making the vehicular exhausts a net source of N₂O to the atmosphere. The combined study of clumped isotopes and N₂O concentration in exhaust gases suggests that it is useful to probe the operational temperature of catalytic converters and monitor the pollution level in operation, thus providing an opportunity for manufacturers to optimize the catalytic efficiency to reduce the level of toxic pollutants to the environment.

A new perspective of probing the level of pollution in the megacity Delhi affected by crop residue burning using the triple oxygen isotope technique in atmospheric CO2

Air quality in the megacity Delhi is affected not only by local emissions but also by pollutants from crop residue burning in the surrounding areas of the city, particularly the rice straw burning in the post monsoon season. As a major burning product, gaseous CO₂, which is rather inert in the polluted atmosphere, provides an alternative solution to characterize the impact of biomass burning from a new perspective that other common tracers such as particulate matters are limited because of their physical and chemical reactiveness. Here, we report conventional ([CO₂], δ¹³C, and δ¹⁸O) and unconventional (Δ¹⁷O) isotope data for CO₂ collected at Connaught Place (CP), a core area in the megacity Delhi, and two surrounding remote regions during a field campaign in October 18-20, 2017. We also measured the isotopic ratios near a rice straw burning site in Taiwan to constrain their end member isotopic compositions. Rice straw burning produces CO₂ with δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, and Δ¹⁷O values of -29.02 ± 0.65, 19.63 ± 1.16, and 0.05 ± 0.02‰, respectively. The first two isotopic tracers are less distinguishable from those emitted by fossil fuel combustion but the last one is significantly different. We then utilize these end member isotopic ratios, with emphasis on Δ¹⁷O for the reason given above, for partitioning sources that affect the CO₂ level in Delhi. Anthropogenic fraction of CO₂ at CP ranges from 4 to 40%. Further analysis done by employing a three-component (background, rice straw burning, and fuel combustion) mixing model with constraints from the Δ¹⁷O values yields that rice straw burning contributes as much as ∼70% of the total anthropogenic CO₂, which is more than double of the fossil fuel contribution (∼30%), during the study days.

Determination of the triple oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of CO2 from atomic ion fragments formed in the ion source of the 253 Ultra high-resolution isotope ratio mass spectrometer

RATIONALE

Determination of δ¹⁷ O values directly from CO₂ with traditional gas source isotope ratio mass spectrometry is not possible due to isobaric interference of ¹³ C¹⁶ O¹⁶ O on ¹² C¹⁷ O¹⁶ O. The methods developed so far use either chemical conversion or isotope equilibration to determine the δ¹⁷ O value of CO₂ . In addition, δ¹³ C measurements require correction for the interference from ¹² C¹⁷ O¹⁶ O on ¹³ C¹⁶ O¹⁶ O since it is not possible to resolve the two isotopologues.

METHODS

We present a technique to determine the δ¹⁷ O, δ¹⁸ O and δ¹³ C values of CO₂ from the fragment ions that are formed upon electron ionization in the ion source of the Thermo Scientific 253 Ultra high-resolution isotope ratio mass spectrometer (hereafter 253 Ultra). The new technique is compared with the CO₂ -O₂ exchange method and the ¹⁷ O-correction algorithm for δ¹⁷ O and δ¹³ C values, respectively.

RESULTS

The scale contractions for δ¹³ C and δ¹⁸ O values are slightly larger for fragment ion measurements than for molecular ion measurements. The δ¹⁷ O and Δ¹⁷ O values of CO₂ can be measured on the ¹⁷ O⁺ fragment with an internal error that is a factor 1-2 above the counting statistics limit. The ultimate precision depends on the signal intensity and on the total time that the ¹⁷ O⁺ beam is monitored; a precision of 14 ppm (parts per million) (standard error of the mean) was achieved in 20 hours at the University of Göttingen. The Δ¹⁷ O measurements with the O-fragment method agree with the CO₂ -O₂ exchange method over a range of Δ¹⁷ O values of -0.3 to +0.7‰.

CONCLUSIONS

Isotope measurements on atom fragment ions of CO₂ can be used as an alternative method to determine the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of CO₂ without chemical processing or corrections for mass interferences.

Global 3-D Simulations of the Triple Oxygen Isotope Signature Δ17O in Atmospheric CO2

The triple oxygen isotope signature Δ17O in atmospheric CO2, also known as its "17O excess," has been proposed as a tracer for gross primary production (the gross uptake of CO2 by vegetation through photosynthesis). We present the first global 3-D model simulations for Δ17O in atmospheric CO2 together with a detailed model description and sensitivity analyses. In our 3-D model framework we include the stratospheric source of Δ17O in CO2 and the surface sinks from vegetation, soils, ocean, biomass burning, and fossil fuel combustion. The effect of oxidation of atmospheric CO on Δ17O in CO2 is also included in our model. We estimate that the global mean Δ17O (defined as Δ 17 O = ln ( δ 17 O + 1 ) - λ RL · ln ( δ 18 O + 1 ) with λ RL = 0.5229) of CO2 in the lowest 500 m of the atmosphere is 39.6 per meg, which is ∼20 per meg lower than estimates from existing box models. We compare our model results with a measured stratospheric Δ17O in CO2 profile from Sodankylä (Finland), which shows good agreement. In addition, we compare our model results with tropospheric measurements of Δ17O in CO2 from Göttingen (Germany) and Taipei (Taiwan), which shows some agreement but we also find substantial discrepancies that are subsequently discussed. Finally, we show model results for Zotino (Russia), Mauna Loa (United States), Manaus (Brazil), and South Pole, which we propose as possible locations for future measurements of Δ17O in tropospheric CO2 that can help to further increase our understanding of the global budget of Δ17O in atmospheric CO2.

Oxygen isotope anomaly in tropospheric CO2 and implications for CO2 residence time in the atmosphere and gross primary productivity

The abundance variations of near surface atmospheric CO₂ isotopologues (primarily ¹⁶O¹²C¹⁶O, ¹⁶O¹³C¹⁶O, ¹⁷O¹²C¹⁶O, and ¹⁸O¹²C¹⁶O) represent an integrated signal from anthropogenic/biogeochemical processes, including fossil fuel burning, biospheric photosynthesis and respiration, hydrospheric isotope exchange with water, and stratospheric photochemistry. Oxygen isotopes, in particular, are affected by the carbon and water cycles. Being a useful tracer that directly probes governing processes in CO₂ biogeochemical cycles, Δ¹⁷O (=ln(1 + δ¹⁷O) - 0.516 × ln(1 + δ¹⁸O)) provides an alternative constraint on the strengths of the associated cycles involving CO₂. Here, we analyze Δ¹⁷O data from four places (Taipei, Taiwan; South China Sea; La Jolla, United States; Jerusalem, Israel) in the northern hemisphere (with a total of 455 measurements) and find a rather narrow range (0.326 ± 0.005‰). A conservative estimate places a lower limit of 345 ± 70 PgC year^-1 on the cycling flux between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere and infers a residence time of CO₂ of 1.9 ± 0.3 years (upper limit) in the atmosphere. A Monte Carlo simulation that takes various plant uptake scenarios into account yields a terrestrial gross primary productivity of 120 ± 30 PgC year^-1 and soil invasion of 110 ± 30 PgC year^-1, providing a quantitative assessment utilizing the oxygen isotope anomaly for quantifying CO₂ cycling.

Identification of Anthropogenic CO2 Using Triple Oxygen and Clumped Isotopes

Quantification of contributions from various sources of CO₂ is important for understanding the atmospheric CO₂ budget. Considering the number and diversity of sources and sinks, the widely used proxies such as concentration and conventional isotopic compositions (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) are not always sufficient to fully constrain the CO₂ budget. Additional constraints may help in understanding the mechanisms of CO₂ production and consumption. The anomaly in triple oxygen isotopes or ¹⁷O excess (denoted by Δ¹⁷O) and molecules containing two rare isotopes, called clumped isotopes, are two recently developed tracers with potentials to independently constrain some important processes that regulate CO₂ in the atmosphere. The clumped isotope for CO₂, denoted by Δ₄₇, is the excess of ¹³C¹⁶O¹⁸O over a random distribution of isotopes in a CO₂ molecule. We measured the concentrations of δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Δ¹⁷O, and Δ₄₇ in air CO₂ samples collected from the Hsuehshan tunnel (length: 12.9 km), and applied linear and polynomial regressions to obtain the fossil fuel end-members for all these isotope proxies. The other end-members, the values of all these proxies for background air CO₂, are either assumed or taken as the values obtained over the tunnel and ocean. The fossil fuel (anthropogenic) CO₂ end-member values for δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O, Δ¹⁷O, and Δ₄₇ are estimated using the two component mixing approach: the derived values are -26.76 ± 0.25‰, 24.57 ± 0.33‰, -0.219 ± 0.021‰, and 0.267 ± 0.036‰, respectively. These four major CO₂ isotope tracers along with the concentration were used to estimate the anthropogenic contribution in the atmospheric CO₂ in urban and suburban locations. We demonstrate that Δ¹⁷O and Δ₄₇ have the potential to independently estimate anthropogenic contribution, and the advantages of these two over the conventional isotope proxies are discussed.

An improved method of high-precision determination of Δ(17)O of CO2 by catalyzed exchange with O2 using hot platinum

RATIONALE

CO2 and O2 can exchange their oxygen isotopes rapidly in the presence of hot (~670 °C) platinum and this has led to a method for determining the δ(17)O value of a CO2 sample. We have improved the method to achieve a precision of 0.008 ‰ (1-σ standard deviation) in the determination of δ(17)O values. Such high precision is essential to identify the stratospheric component in tropospheric CO2 and use it for global carbon flux studies. The crucial issue in the accurate determination of the δ(17)O value is estimation of a correction factor, which depends on the amount ratio CO2/O2. An attempt was also made to investigate the mechanism of exchange with their controlling parameters.

METHODS

The oxygen isotopes of a CO2 sample gas are exchanged with those of an appropriate amount of tank O2 in the presence of hot platinum. The pre-exchange CO2 and O2 gas samples as well as the post-exchange O2 sample are analyzed by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. A mixing model was developed involving the δ(18)O value of the CO2 and δ(17)O and δ(18)O values of pre- and post-exchange O2 to obtain the δ(17)O value of the CO2 sample. A correction to the measured value was determined to obtain the actual value with high accuracy and precision.

RESULTS

To obtain a precision better than 0.01 ‰ requires the amount ratio CO2/O2 to be controlled to better than ~15 %. We also find that the oxygen isotopes are nearly homogeneously distributed between the O2 and the CO2 molecules. In addition, determination of the (16) O(13)C(18)O/(16)O(12)C(16)O isotopologue ratio in the CO2 shows that the abundance of (16)O(13)C(18)O is close to that expected for random partitioning of the isotopes among the CO2 isotopologues.

CONCLUSIONS

The isotopic scrambling between O2 and CO2 that occurs on hot platinum allows one to accurately determine the δ(17)O values of CO2 through isotopic analysis of O2.

Isotopic homogenization and scrambling associated with oxygen isotopic exchange on hot platinum: studies on gas pairs (O2, CO2) and (CO, CO2)

The catalytic exchange between O₂ and CO₂ on hot platinum leads to isotope scrambling in CO₂ and homogenization of the oxygen isotopes in the two phases even though they could be different in isotope ratios from each other before the exchange.

High-precision measurements of δ(17)O and (17) Oexcess of NBS19 and NBS18

RATIONALE

Measurements of oxygen-17 excess ((17)Oexcess) in carbonates have become of great importance. However, to compare results obtained by different laboratories, it is necessary to normalize them to international standards. With this purpose in mind, we measured accurate and high precision δ(17)O and (17)Oexcess values for NBS19 and NBS18, two international standards, for which δ(18)O values are already widely used as the references for carbonates.

METHODS

The measurements are based on isotopic exchange at steady state between O2 and CO2 over hot platinum sponge at 750°C. Dual-inlet isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) measurements of the δ(17)O and δ(18)O values of this O2 allow δ(17)O values of CO2 to be obtained with very high precision (0.01 to 0.03‰) and, correspondingly, accurate (17)Oexcess values with a precision of 5 per meg.

RESULTS

We measured, for the first time, the δ(17)O values and (17)Oexcess of CO2 liberated from NBS19 at 25°C (39.196 ± 0.026; 20.276 ± 0.015‰ and -227 ± 4 per meg, respectively) and NBS18 (17.591 ± 0.041‰; 9.253 ± 0.018‰ and 3 ± 5 per meg, respectively). The values are given versus VSMOW.

CONCLUSIONS

Accurate values of δ(17)O and (17)Oexcess of the international standards NBS19-CO2 and NBS18-CO2 are now available. The new values should be used for normalization of measured oxygen isotope ratios of carbonates to allow meaningful comparison of results among different laboratories.

Oxygen anomaly in near surface carbon dioxide reveals deep stratospheric intrusion

Stratosphere-troposphere exchange could be enhanced by tropopause folding, linked to variability in the subtropical jet stream. Relevant to tropospheric biogeochemistry is irreversible transport from the stratosphere, associated with deep intrusions. Here, oxygen anomalies in near surface air CO₂ are used to study the irreversible transport from the stratosphere, where the triple oxygen isotopes of CO₂ are distinct from those originating from the Earth’s surface. We show that the oxygen anomaly in CO₂ is observable at sea level and the magnitude of the signal increases during the course of our sampling period (September 2013-February 2014), concordant with the strengthening of the subtropical jet system and the East Asia winter monsoon. The trend of the anomaly is found to be 0.1‰/month (R² = 0.6) during the jet development period in October. Implications for utilizing the oxygen anomaly in CO₂ for CO₂ biogeochemical cycle study and stratospheric intrusion flux at the surface are discussed.