In the present study, microbial toluene degradation in controlled constructed wetland model systems, planted fixed-bed reactors (PFRs), was queried with DNA-based methods in combination with stable isotope fractionation analysis and characterization of toluene-degrading microbial isolates. Two PFR replicates were operated with toluene as the sole external carbon and electron source for 2 years....

The performance of a gas chromatography-combustion-isotope ratio mass spectrometry system (GC-C-IRMS) with respect to the dependence of delta(13)C values on the amount of sample is presented. Particular attention is paid to the localization of the amount-dependent isotopic fractionation within the system. Injection experiments with varying amounts of gases (CO(2), n-hexane, and toluene) reveale...

The sulfur isotope effect produced by sulfate reducing microbes is commonly used to trace biogeochemical cycles of sulfur and carbon in aquatic and sedimentary environments. To test the contribution of intracellular coupling between carbon and sulfur metabolisms to the overall magnitude of the sulfur isotope effect, this study compared sulfur isotope fractionations by mutants of Desulfovibrio v...

20 The aim of this paper is to assess the Zn isotopic variabilty in feed materials and in 21 combustion by-products collected from three different coal-fired power plants and to 22 develop a generalized model that accounts for the Zn isotopic fractionation occuring 23 during coal combustion processes. Partitioning of Zn between combustion residues and 24 the isotopic composition of feed materia...

Introduction: The presence and amount of Si in Earth's core has important implications for models of the processes and chemistry of core segregation. A metal core containing 5 to 7 wt. % Si can be produced when assuming continuous accretion and equili-bration along the silicate liquidus terminating at ~35 GPa and ~3,000 K, and with a concomitant increase in fO 2 from 4 to 2 log units below IW [...

Isotope fractionation is a promising tool for quantifying methane oxidation in landfill cover soils. For good quantification an accurate determination of the isotope fractionation factor (alpha) of methane oxidation based on independent batch experiments with soil samples from the landfill cover is required. Most studies so far used data analysis methods based on approximations of the Rayleigh ...

The variations in the isotopic composition of calcium caused by fractionation in heterogeneous systems and by nuclear reactions can provide insight into numerous biological, geological, and cosmic processes, and therefore isotopic analysis finds a wide spectrum of applications in cosmo- and geochemistry, paleoclimatic, nutritional, and biomedical studies. The measurement of calcium isotopic abu...

Carbon isotopic fractionations in the processes of CH4 emission from paddy field remain poorly understood. The δ(13)C-values of CH4 in association with production, oxidation and transport of CH4 in different pools of a paddy field were determined, and the stable carbon isotope fractionations were calibrated to assess relative contribution of acetate to CH4 production (fac) and fraction of CH4 o...

The oxygen isotopic composition of plant cellulose is commonly used for the interpretations of climate, ecophysiology and dendrochronology in both modern and palaeoenvironments. Further applications of this analytical tool depends on our in-depth knowledge of the isotopic fractionations associated with the biochemical pathways leading to cellulose. Here, we test two important assumptions regard...