SERVICES & FACILITIES ANNUAL REPORT - FY April 2012 to March 2013
SERVICE
Life Sciences Mass Spectrometry
Facility (LSMSF)
FUNDING
Block
AGREEMENT
EK: R8/H10/09
L: R8/H10/20
B: R8/12/15
ESTABLISHED as S&F
East Kilbride
Lancaster
Bristol
1994
1984
1992
TERM
5 years
(extended by
1 year)
TYPE OF SERVICE PROVIDED:
Facility: LSMSF comprises three nodes for the provision of organic and light element stable isotope mass spectrometry to the UK
life sciences community, located at SUERC, East Kilbride, CEH, Lancaster and Bristol, University of Bristol. A more integrated
approach improves accessibility to the Facility nodes and promotes efficient operation of the Facility overall. Whilst located at
geographically distinct locations the Facility operates as a ‘one-stop-shop’ providing users with a single point of contact, the
synergistic benefit of this mode of operation makes optimal use of the current resources. LSMSF provides ‘free-at-point-ofdelivery’ support, each node according to their respective service level agreements (SLAs) or contracts, and is overseen by the
NERC LSMSF steering committee. Each node offers a different portfolio of analytical techniques which UK based researchers may
apply to use via NERC Services and Facilities (S&F) by standard peer review procedure. East Kilbride has strong associations with
migration, agro-ecology and conservation studies. The primary remit of Lancaster is terrestrial and fresh-water studies (including
those deriving from NERC programmes). Bristol fields a wide range of projects to which a compound specific approach is
essential, e.g. biomarker analysis, isotopic PLFA and FFA profiling.
Analytical portfolio of the LSMSF:






Isotopically enriched water (D218O to energy expenditure studies)
Natural abundance e.g. 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 2H/1H and 34S/32S analyses of bulk animal organic matter to study food webs &
element cycling
Enriched & natural abundance analyses of organic and inorganic matter to study carbon and nitrogen fluxes within soil
ecosystems e.g. 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 18O/16O
Enriched & natural abundance analyses of gases: e.g. 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 18O/16O of CO2, CH4, N2O & N2
Natural & near natural abundance compound specific 13C/12C, 15N/14N, D/H analyses of biochemical extracts
Organic mass spectrometric analyses of complex mixtures of compounds e.g. volatiles, functionalised molecules etc
ANNUAL TARGETS AND PROGRESS TOWARDS THEM
Bristol: The node has continued to support successful applicants across a range of compound specific methodologies. However,
progress has been stymied by a temporary drop in instrument capacity combined with a lack of sample provision for two
applications. Both of these issues have now been resolved.
East Kilbride: Solutions to the problems with one of our elemental analysers have been difficult, however a new elemental
analyser purchased with capital money and installed in February is making excellent progress, in terms of clearing backlog and also
developing new types of analysis.
Lancaster: The node has continued with its high profile program of collaborative support for LSMSF approved projects combined
with methodological developments wherever these were needed.
SCORES AT LAST REVIEW (each out of 5)
Need
Uniqueness
5.0
4.5
CAPACITY of HOST ENTITY
FUNDED by S&F
BRIS
50%
EK
LANC
100 %
58%
Quality of Service
5.0
Date of Last Review:
Quality of Science & Training
5.0
Staff & Status
Dr. ID Bull (URF Grade K; 70% University of Bristol funded), Mrs. A
Kuhl (Grade H), Mr JM Williams (Grade H)
Dr J Newton (SRF-Level 9), Dr R McGill (RA-Level 7)
Dr AW Stott (B5), Miss H Grant (B7), 0.3 FTE Dr. G Pereira (B4)
FINANCIAL DETAILS: CURRENT FY
Total Resource
Unit Cost £k
Allocation
Unit 1
Unit 2
Unit 3
£k
BRIS
203.263
0.531
EK
224.289
0.618
LANC
213.000
0.540
FINANCIAL COMMITMENT (by year until end of current agreement) £k
2012-13
2013-14
203.263
206.005
BRIS
BRIS
224.289
209.379
EK
EK
213.00
218.00
LANC
LANC
STEERING COMMITTEE
LSMSF
Independent Members
7
Meetings per annum
2
Capital
Expend £k
84
63
Other S&F Overseen
0
March 2008
Average
4.9
Next
Review
(March)
2014
Income
£k
Contract
Ends
(31
March)
2015
Full
Cash
Cost £k
306.380
263.42
243.95
APPLICATIONS: DISTRIBUTION OF GRADES (current FY — 2012/13)
10
0
0
0
0
NERC Grant projects*
Other academic
Students
TOTAL
9
3
0
2
4
8
2
4
2
7
7
4
3
1
6
PROJECTS COMPLETED (current FY – 2012/13)
9
10 (5)
8 (4)
NERC Grant
projects*
Other Academic
Students
6
1
0
1
1
5
0
0
1
1
4
0
1
0
1
3
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
7
6 (3)
5 (2)
4
3 (1)
2
1 (β)
0
0
8
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
(Reject)
0
1
1
0
0
3
4
1
1
0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Other
NERC
Grant*
PAYG
PhD Students
NERC Other
7
0
Project Funding Type (current FY – 2012/13) (select one category for each project)
Infrastructure
Grand
PhD Students
NERC
Total
Supplement to NERC Grant *
NERC Other Centre
18
49
9
13
2
0
0
Project Funding Type (per annum average previous 3 financial years - 2009/2010, 2010/2011 & 2011/2012)
Infrastructure
PAYG
Grand
PhD Students
PhD Student
NERC
NERC
Total
Supplement to NERC Grant *
Other
Grant* NERC Other
NERC Other Centre
11.67
53.33
13
8
3.67
17
0
0
0
User type (current FY – 2012/13) (include each person named on application form)
Academic
NERC Centre
NERC Fellows
PhD Students
63
14
1
24
User type (per annum average previous 3 financial years - 2009/2010, 2010/2011 & 2011/2012)
Academic
NERC Centre
NERC Fellows
PhD Students
35.49
6.33
1.33
23
4
2
16
0
2.5
Grand Total
53.66
13.33
2.33
SBA
6
16.33
0
1.83
23.5
26
39.33
0
1
0
NERC
Centre
Other
0
0
NERC
Centre
Other
0
0
Commercial
0.33
0
OUTPUT & PERFORMANCE MEASURES (per annum average previous 3 years)
Publications (by science area & type) (Calendar years 2009, 2010 & 2011)
SBA
ES
MS
AS
TFS
EO
Polar
Grand Total
Refereed
Non-Ref/ Conf Proc
3
Pilot
Commercial
2
OUTPUT & PERFORMANCE MEASURES (current year)
Publications (by science area & type) (calendar year 2012)
SBA
ES
MS
AS
TFS
EO
Polar
Grand Total
Refereed
Non-Ref/ Conf Proc
9
3
15
0
20
0
3
50
34
10
Distribution of Projects (by science areas) (FY 2012/13)
Grand Total
SBA
ES
MS
AS
TFS
EO
49
Pilot
0
0
1
0
R*
0
1
3
3
7.66
Distribution of Projects (by science areas) (FY 2009/2010, 2010/2011 & 2011/2012)
ES
MS
AS
TFS
1
14.16
29.16
1
PhD Theses
6
Polar
3.5
PhD Theses
5.66
EO
0
Polar
2.33
Distribution of Projects by NERC strategic priority (current FY 2012/13)
Grand
Total
Climate System
Biodiversity
Earth System
Science
Sustainable Use of
Natural Resources
Natural Hazards
Environment,
Pollution &
Human Health
Technologies
49
5.25
25.25
6
6.75
0.5
5.25
0
*Either Responsive Mode or Directed Programme grants
NOTE: All metrics should be presented as whole or part of whole number NOT as a %
OVERVIEW & ACTIVITIES IN FINANCIAL YEAR (2012/13):
Bristol: The 2012-2013 period has been both challenging and a little frustrating. Whilst the number of applications (8) was up on the
previous period the inevitable decommissioning of a GC-C-IRMS (Finnigan MAT Delta S) in September resulted in a lower capacity
to perform compound specific 13C determinations (whilst maintaining the capability to simultaneously perform compound specific
D and 15N determinations). Funding secured through NERC (£84k) and UoB (£70k) has enabled the facility to purchase a
replacement GC-C-IRMS (IsoPrime 100) which shall be dedicated to compound specific 13C determinations. Efficient operation of
the facility was also hampered by two large supported projects failing to provide any samples. Although, rescheduling enabled the
impact of this to be reduced only 80% of NERC contracted HDUs were delivered. It is anticipated that this shall be rectified over the
2013-2014 period. Fourteen research outputs have been captured for 2012, eleven being publications in international, peer-reviewed
journals, two PhD theses and one conference proceeding. The move to ROS has proven to be trivial and has, to date, proven to be a
much better mechanism for the capture of research outputs. A particularly exciting recent development has been the successful bid by
the School of Chemistry for core-capability funding from the EPSRC, combined with additional funds from UoB, this has resulted in
£1.7m of investment in mass spectrometric instrumentation (see Annex 3). Combined with the current portfolio of instrumentation
maintained by the Bristol node of the LSMSF this represents a diversity and capacity for organic and light stable isotope mass
spectrometry unrivalled, certainly within the UK. The Bristol node already works closely with the SoC Mass Spectrometry Service
and will develop mechanisms whereby NERC end-users may have access to this additional instrumentation as the need arises.
East Kilbride: We had a healthy number of applications again in 2012 – 16, of which ten were funded outright, four were offered
pilot data and a resubmission, and two were unsuccessful. The slight increase in success rate has caused problems for capacity and
turnaround time, though this will hopefully subside in the next month or so. The elemental analyser bought by SUERC (£43K) for the
Facility has been a disappointment in terms of the time it has taken to provide routine analyses, though it does provide some
advantages over the old system, particularly a cost saving on helium. In November we were awarded capital money (£63K) from
NERC to purchase a more advanced EA, with a purge-and-trap system (Elementar Pyrocube) for separating analyte gases, rather than
conventional gas chromatography separation. This was installed in late January, and JN has already successfully run samples for both
2H and 18O for a Facility project. Unfortunately our Delta XP, which quantifies the isotope ratios from the Pyrocube is now out of
order so a priority is to get the system working again, particularly to measure C/N/S isotopes in biological materials. Both staff
attended the 8th ISOECOL meeting in Brest in August where two talks and four posters demonstrated the strengths of the node. We
have produced thirteen peer-reviewed publications in 2012.
Lancaster: All available NERC capacity under the agreed SLA has been utilised by 12 different LSMSFSC approved projects. 11 of
the 12 projects (91.6%) originated from NERC responsive mode and directed research programmes, with just one originating from a
highly graded (8) direct access application. The nodes diverse analytical portfolio bridges two major NERC Science areas, namely:
Terrestrial & Freshwater and Marine Sciences. Seven new applications to the node were received this reporting year, of which 5,
encouragingly, were from new facility users. They were graded by the LSMSFSC as follows: 2 of merit 9, 3 of merit 8, and 2 of merit
7. The majority of the Lancaster LSMSF terrestrial and freshwater proposals bridge several of the NERC strategy themes. The
Lancaster node is innovative in supporting projects dedicated to the biological diversity of soil biota and the functional roles played
by soil organisms in key ecological processes. Many of these aim to assess how complex multi-trophic interactions within the soil
respond to changes in climatic parameters. Additionally, most of our current project support this year has focused on the tropical and
Arctic regions and in particular, the climatic vulnerability of the exceptionally large soil carbon and nitrogen stores and biodiversity of
the regions, which are currently very poorly documented. 100% of the nodes applications were supported by the LSMSFSC this year.
Instrument downtime has been minimal during the year with little disruption to hamper the efficient operation of the node. A new
auto-sampler for the Eurovector EA was purchased to replace the original which suffered from piston failure. Peer reviewed
publications attributable to support provided from the node for the same period have amounted to 6 with at least five more currently
submitted or under review. Collaborations between the node staff and Lancaster University have resulted in another Nature Climate
Change manuscript recently published in April 2013, the third co-authorship in three years.
SCIENCE HIGHLIGHTS:
Bristol:
A collaboration between the node and Professor David
Minnikan has led to the development of an sensitive technique
for the detection of ultratrace concentrations of biomarkers for
the mycobacterial pathogens, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and
Mycobacterium leprae. In the current study, key mycobacterial
lipid virulence factor biomarkers were detected in two samples
from a 17,000-year-old skeleton of extinct Bison antiquus, from
Natural Trap Cave, Wyoming (a DNA report, a decade ago,
suggested that was the oldest known case of tuberculosis).
Pristine profiles of C-29, C-30 and C-32 mycocerosates and C27 mycolipenates, typical of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis
complex, were recorded by negative ion chemical ionization gas
chromatography mass spectrometry (NICI GC/MS) of
pentafluorobenzyl ester derivatives. These findings were
supported by the detection of C-34 and C-36 phthiocerols,
which are usually esterified to the mycocerosates. The existence
of Pleistocene tuberculosis in the Americas was confirmed and,
moreover, there are many even older animal bones with wellcharacterised tuberculous lesions similar to those on the
analysed sample. In the absence of any evidence of tuberculosis
in human skeletons older than 9,000 years BP, the hypothesis
that this disease evolved as a zoonosis, before transfer to
humans, is given detailed consideration and discussion in the
final publication. Lee, O.Y.C., Wu, H.H.T., Donoghue, H.D.,
Spigelman M., Greenblatt, C.L., Bill, I.D., Rothschild, B.M.,
Martin, L.D., Minnikin, D.E. and Besra, G.S. (2012)
Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex lipid virulence factors
preserved in the 17,000-year-old skeleton of an extinct bison,
Bison antiquus. PLOS ONE 7(7), e41923.
The mission of the Bristol node to develop and validate new
analytical methodologies to widen the range of analytical
options open to NERC end-users is exemplified by a second
piece of ‘in-house’ research conducted at the node. Compoundspecific stable hydrogen isotope analysis of fatty acids is being
used increasingly as a means of deriving information from a
diverse range of materials of archaeological, geological and
environmental interest. Preparative steps required prior to
Figure 1 – A. Generalized structures of the -, methoxy- and
isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) analysis have the
ketomycolates; the main components are in brackets. B.
potential to alter determined D values and hence must be
Structures of mycolipenate and mycocerosates, showing ions
accounted for if accurate D values for target compounds are to
used for selected ion monitoring on NICI GC/MS analysis. C.
be obtained. Myristic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic and behenic
Structures of members of the phthiocerol family
saturated fatty acids were derivatised to their respective fatty
acid methyl esters (FAMEs), using 14% (w/v) boron trifluoride
in methanol then analysed by gas chromatography/thermal conversion/IRMS (GC/TC/IRMS). FAMEs generated from fatty acid
sodium salts of unknown D values were then used to test a correction factor determined for this method of derivatisation.
Derivatisation was found to alter the hydrogen isotopic composition of FAMEs although this effect was reproducible and can be
accounted for. The difference between the mean corrected and mean bulk D values was always less than 6.7 %. Extraction of
saturated fatty acids and acyl lipids from samples, subsequent hydrolysis, then separation on a solid-phase extraction cartridge, was
found to alter the determined D values by less than one standard deviation. Overall, it has been shown that for natural abundance
hydrogen isotope determinations, the isolation and derivatisation of extracted fatty acids alters the determined D values only by a
numerical increment comparable with the experimental error. This supports the use of the described analytical protocol as an
effectivemeans of determining fatty acid D values by GC/TC/IRMS. Chivall, D., Berstan, R., Bull, I.D., and Evershed, R.P.
(2012) Isotope effects associated with the preparation and methylation of fatty acids by boron trifluoride in methanol for
compound-specific stable hydrogen isotope analysis via gas chromatography/thermal conversion/isotope ratio mass
spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 26(10) 1232-1240.
East Kilbride: The East Kilbride node has for a number of years, been involved in several large stable isotope studies of
polar/subpolar marine foodwebs. The Scotia Sea comprises a highly productive and physically energetic portion of the Southern
Ocean, but the prevailing ecosystem balance is under pressure, with evident changes in upper water column temperature and a
shortening sea ice season.
Stable isotope measurements were performed on samples from the Discovery 2010 expeditions – three south to north transects
through the central Scotia Sea, from the seasonal ice edge in the south to the Antarctic Polar Front in the north. This is a
multidisciplinary study of changes in the ecosystem dynamics of the Southern Ocean in different seasons. Stable isotopes
complemented oceanographic parameters such as air-sea CO2 fluxes, macro- and micro-nutrient concentrations, composition and
biomass of the nano- micro- and mesoplankton communities, and the distribution and biomass of Antarctic krill and mesopelagic fish.
Southern Ocean foodwebs were long considered simple and short, dominated by Antarctic krill, linking primary production to a large
biomass of krill-dependent predators. A paradigm shift since the 1980’s now highlights the importance of the microbial foodweb and
small copepods both here and in oceans generally. From the Discovery 2010 results it can be seen that the short krill-dominated food
chain is still very important, particularly in the south. Stable isotope measurements provided by the node show that krill and Salpa
thompsoni were of a lower trophic level than predicted by their size, and that 60% of the vertebrate predators feed only 1 to 1.5
trophic levels above the suspension feeders (including krill). However longer food-webs are demonstrated by myctophid fish species
occupying higher trophic levels in the copepod-dominated northern Scotia Sea, and also during the autumn.
Stowasser G., Atkinson A., McGill R.A.R., Phillips
R.A., Collins M.A. and Pond D.W. (2012). Food web
dynamics in the Scotia Sea in summer: A stable
isotope study. Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical
Studies in Oceanography, 59-60, 208-221.
Tarling G.A., Stowasser G., Ward P., Poulton A.J.,
Zhou M., Venables H.J., McGill R.A.R. and
Murphy E.J. (2012). Seasonal trophic structure of
the Scotia Sea pelagic ecosystem considered through
biomass spectra and stable isotope analysis. Deep
Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in
Oceanography, 59-60, 222-236.
Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone, on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, defines the position of the Arctic Subpolar Front: the EK node of the
LSMSF has been working closely with collaborators at Universities of Newcastle and St Andrews in studies of both the benthic and
the pelagic food webs in the contrasting oceanographic regimes north and south of this boundary. The pelagic invertebrate
zooplankton community north and south of the Arctic Subpolar front show geographical variability in stable isotope ratios consistent
with observed primary production patterns north and south of the Subpolar Front in the North Atlantic. However, the differences in
production and in faunal abundance between the two regions were only clear at low trophic levels which suggests that at the depth
typical of the MAR (~2500 m) differences in bloom seasonality might not be as important as yearly production rates. The benthic
foodweb north and south of the Subpolar front appears to be supported by the downward flux of phytodetritus from photosynthetic
primary production: but the linear relationship between 13C and 15N found at the northern station, suggesting a single trophic
pathway, was not found at the southern sampling station. Here a more complex foodweb was indicated, particularly with respect to
predator-scavenger relationships.
Letessier T.B., Pond D.W., McGill R.A.R., Reid W.D.K, and Brierley, A.S. (2012). Trophic interaction of invertebrate
zooplankton on either side of the Charlie Gibbs Fracture Zone/Subpolar Front of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Journal of Marine
Systems 94, 174-184.
Reid W.D.K., Wigham B.D., McGill R.A.R. and Polunin N.V.C. (2012). Elucidating trophic pathways in benthic deep-sea
assemblages of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge north and south of the Charlie-Gibbs Fracture Zone. Marine Ecology Progress Series
463, 89-103.
Lancaster:Priming and microbial nutrient limitation in lowland tropical forest soils of
contrasting fertility: Biogeochemistry 111 (Nottingham, Turner, Chamberlain,
Stott & Tanner) The effects of climate change on tropical regions is becoming a
highly topical research area and one that is increasingly important part of the Lancaster
node remit. This is the first study of priming mechanisms in tropical forest soils, and
indicates that input of labile carbon can result in priming by microbial mineralization
of organic nutrients, which has important implications for understanding the fate of
organic carbon in tropical forest soils. Priming is an increase in soil organic carbon
decomposition following input of labile organic carbon. In temperate soils where
biological activity is limited commonly by nitrogen availability, priming is expected to
occur through microbial acquisition of nitrogen from organic matter or stimulated
activity of recalcitrant-carbon degrading microorganisms. However, these priming
mechanisms have not yet been assessed in strongly weathered tropical forest soils
where biological activity is often limited by the availability of phosphorus. In this
study we examined whether microbial nutrient limitation or community dynamics drive
priming in three lowland tropical forest soils of contrasting fertility ('low', 'mid' and
'high') by applying C4-sucrose (alone or in combination with nutrients; nitrogen,
phosphorus and potassium) and measuring (1) the 13C signatures in respired CO2 and
in phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) biomarkers, and (2) the activities of enzymes
involved in nitrogen (N-acetyl beta-glucosaminidase), phosphorus
(phosphomonoesterase) and carbon (beta-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, xylanase,
phenol oxidase) acquisition from organic compounds. Priming was constrained in part by nutrient availability, because priming was
greater when sucrose was added alone compared to when added with nutrients. The greatest priming with sucrose addition alone was
detected in the medium fertility soil. Priming occurred in parallel with stimulated activity of phosphomonoesterase and phenol
oxidase (but not N-acetyl beta-glucosaminidase); when sucrose was added with nutrients there were lower activities of
phosphomonoesterase and phenol oxidase. There was no evidence according to PLFA 13C incorporation that priming was caused by
specific groups of recalcitrant-carbon degrading microorganisms. The research published in Biogeochemistry, concluded that priming
occurred in the intermediate fertility soil following microbial mineralization of organic nutrients (phosphorus in particular) and
suggest that priming was constrained in the high fertility soil by high nutrient availability and in the low fertility soil by the low
concentration of soil organic matter amenable to priming.
Variable source and age of different forms of carbon released from natural peatland pipes Journal of Geophysical Research
Biogeosciences 117, (Billet, Dinsmore, Smart, Garnett, Holden, Chapman, Baird, Grayson & Stott, 2012) Understanding the
processes associated with the hydrology and carbon dynamics of peatlands under
environmental change is an increasingly important research area. In this study,
carbon isotopes (14C and 13C) were used to measure the source and age of DOC,
POC, dissolved CO2 and CH4 (13C only) released from three natural peat pipes
and the downstream catchment outlet of a small peatland in northern England.
Sampling under different hydrological extremes (high flows associated with storm
events and low flows before or after storms) was used to explore variability in C
sources as flow paths change over short periods of time. The 13C composition of
organic C differed from that of the dissolved gases and showed that C leaving the
catchment was a mixture of shallow/deep pipe and non-pipe sources. The isotopic
composition of the dissolved gases was more variable than DOC and POC, with
individual pipes either showing 13C enrichment or depletion during a storm event.
Differences in the isotopic composition of evasion CO2 at pipe outlets do not explain the variability in 13C and 14C at the catchment
outlet and suggest that overland flow is likely to be an important source of CO 2. The studied showed that the sources of CO2 and CH4
are significantly more variable and dynamic than DOC and POC and that natural pipes vent old, deep peat CO2 and POC (but not
DOC) to the atmosphere.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS/STRATEGIC FORWARD LOOK
Bristol: In the short- to medium-term future the node shall be focussing on efficient throughput of as many projects as possible whilst
preparing for the next SRG, presumably in 2014. Ideally, the medium to long-term future would see the acquisition of an HT-TOFMS
which would enable the current GC/MS analytical window to be extended to encompass higher mass compounds such as intact
triacyglycerides, glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers and bacteriohopanepolyols. We will also continue to work closely with the SoC
Mass Spectrometry facility in the development of new methodologies and explore mechanisms by which they may be offered to
NERC end-users.
East Kilbride: The new Pyrocube is delivering H and O isotope measurements only 6 weeks after installation. We have already made
some headway (before the mass spec breakdown) to running C/N/S isotope measurements on the same sample, and hope to have this
routine by the summer. However C/N isotope measurements will also need to be made routine, if we are to deal with the capacity
problems which have arisen because of the long downtime in early 2012, coupled with many of our users competing for measurement
time in the same few months. We anticipate that the impending cuts to NERC Services and Facilities will result in a loss of capacity
in the near future, so decisions on future projects will have to consider the available capacity as well as science quality. Faced with
cuts of uncertain magnitude may not allow for new developments, however the measurement of sulphur isotope ratios is a top priority
for both the LSMSF-EK and the ICSF, also at SUERC. A shared instrument provides exceptional value for money for NERC, by
vastly reducing time allocation using existing instrumentation; we will be submitting a bid for this in the near future. Though we have
learned much in the short time spent testing C/N/S isotope measurement on the Pyrocube, it is not designed to be connected to the
IRMS of a separate manufacturer, and there is much loss in functionality.
Lancaster: 2013-2014 will build on the developments achieved this reporting year with continued training and augmentation of new
methods where applicable. One of the main goals is to enhance the LSMSF staff skills portfolio in dual inlet sulphur isotope
techniques which may, in future, allow the node to offer these isotopes to ‘in house’ research and eventually the LSMSF external user
community. Partial training has already begun in sulphur isotope analyses and further training is already ring fenced for June 2013.
This gives us access to understanding pollution dynamics and atmospheric change, as well as understanding contemporary processes
of biogeochemical cycling within tropic ecosystems. This would also provide the opportunity to undertake cutting edge research into
33
S – the third stable isotope of sulphur, which has a recognised potential as an environmental tracer of biogeochemical processes. A
capital bid for a standalone dual inlet Variocube Isoprime 100 has just been prepared in conjunction with LEC to carry out bulk
sulphur, carbon and nitrogen analyses. We aim to continue with developing the automated nitrous oxide analyses at natural abundance
from 12ml exetainers without the need for 100ml Youngs gas flasks. Early indications on 1ppm N 2O standards show that enough N2O
can be introduced into the IRMS using a ‘flush technique’ from the Gilson dual core needle. We intend to modify the method further
to allow us to scale down to 0.3ppm which is required for the Macronutrients research project at Keele University. Looking forward
in terms of potential techniques that may be beneficial to the user community include the development of the oxygen isotopes for
utilisation with WUE techniques.
Non-Mandatory Facility-specific OPMs: utilisation, allocation of capacity etc
See the annexes accompanying the submission of this annual summary